


Bruises

by Queenbee3480



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Disability, F/F, child to parent violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenbee3480/pseuds/Queenbee3480
Summary: Regina adopts a disabled child and struggles to raise her. Emma offers support.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Maleficent, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Maleficent & Emma Swan
Comments: 57
Kudos: 296





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story assumes canon through the end of the Dark Swan and then diverges. They did not follow Hook to the Underworld. He is gone and Robin is alive. It is set a number of years later, when Henry is in his early 20's

When the bruises first appear, people assume they are from Robin. The whispers start and Regina feels the eyes on her everywhere she goes.

They’re not, of course. Robin is a gentle soul and would no more hit Regina than he would cut off his own arm. Eventually, though, he can’t take the rumors anymore and he leaves. Regina has become beloved in their little town and the hatred directed his way is unbearable.

The day he stands before Regina and cries, she watches him with distant eyes that can no longer focus. She doesn’t ask him to stay, she understands that he can’t.

4 years earlier, she adopted a 12-year-old girl with light brown skin, curly hair, and no ability to speak. Her heart melted when she saw her. This beautiful soul who rocks back and forth and does not speak but sings with the voice of an angel.

She had been sent back from every foster home she was placed in. The doctors had attached every letter of the alphabet to her name: ASD, ODD, ADHD, OCD, possible BPD. Robin was afraid, but Regina knew she wasn’t going home without that girl. The adoption was finalized 6 months later.

Her name is Faith and it fits her because she restores Regina’s with every day they are together. On the good days, she allows Regina to hold her and she gifts her with the most beautiful smile on the planet.

On the bad days, she is angry and unpredictable. The first time she hits her, Regina is in a state of shock and she cries herself to sleep. The bad days become more and more frequent and Regina becomes more desperate to reach her daughter.

She researches alternative communication devices, hoping that she can find a way to understand Faith and help her work through her anger. The first one she brings home is smashed against the wall and Regina has to walk away before she loses her temper. She comes back to a room full of broken glass and the sight of her daughter banging her head against the wall. She never leaves her alone again.

On Faith’s 15th birthday, Regina resigns from her position as Mayor. She has been Mayor in name only for so long that it seems silly to continue to hold the title. She officially turns over to Kathryn, who has been acting as her deputy and announces she will no longer run for re-election.

Faith is now 16 and Regina never leaves the house anymore, except to go to all of the appointments. She tries everything she can think of: art therapy, music therapy, group therapy, every medication the doctors can think of. Everything helps for a few weeks and then it all falls apart again. Whatever is making her daughter hurt so badly is locked up tight and Regina has no idea how to reach it.

\----------------------------------------------------

This episode is a bad one. Faith is furious and is trying to smash her head against the wall. Already, furniture has been knocked over and there is yet another hole in her living room wall. The dishes have all long since been replaced with plastic, but today one of her few remaining coffee mugs has fallen victim to the rage.

Regina wraps her in a bear hug and tells her over and over again that she is safe, that she is loved, but she is not getting through. Faith is screaming at the top of her lungs and Regina knows she is desperately trying to break free from her hold. For the hundredth time, she wonders if she should let her go, but she is terrified that her daughter will hurt herself.

Faith is kicking and trying to bite her, fighting to get free. Regina sings her favorite song trying to reach her, to calm her enough that it is safe to let go. This seems to infuriate her more and suddenly Regina is hit hard across the face.

Another bruise she will have to cover up before she is able to leave the house again. There are so many now that Regina can no longer wear short sleeves or leave the house without dark sunglasses. She wishes again that there was someone there to help her, someone that can keep Faith from hurting herself while Regina goes to get her medication or turn on the music that sometimes calms her down. She never uses magic anymore; she is afraid to startle her or scare her. She holds tight and wonders how long this one will last.

\----------------------------------------------

Across town, Emma Swan is sitting at her desk in the sheriff’s office when she feels the tingle of magic in the air. She does not see the source, but it feels so hopeless, so desperate, that she becomes determined to trace it.

She has no idea how to follow an unidentified thread of magic, particularly one that does not seem to have been cast with any particular purpose in mind. She can feel that it is a cry for help, but she doubts whoever sent it even knows that they did. She leaves her office, allowing her own magic to reach out and follow the energy she feels. She takes what appears to be random turns, but she is confident enough in her magic now that she is sure it is guiding her correctly.

When her magic takes her to Mifflin Street, she is shocked. She rushes to the door and when she finds it locked, uses her magic to open it. She hears the screaming as soon as she steps inside.

“Regina?” she calls out.

Regina hears the voice but has no idea why the sheriff is in her home. “Miss Swan! I’m in the living room!”

Emma rushes in to see Regina on the floor cradling her daughter who is frantically trying to bite. When she cannot reach any part of Regina’s skin, she shoves her own arm in her mouth and Regina tries to pull her arms away from her mouth, all the while trying to keeping her still.

“Stay back!” Regina orders and Emma stops short.

“What do you need me to do?” she asks, and the question is such a relief that Regina almost breaks down.

“Get me a sweatshirt from the hall closet,” she says. Emma rushes back in with the sweatshirt and Regina hands it to her daughter.

“Here baby. Bite on this,” she says. Faith shoves the shirt in her mouth and bites down hard. Emma watches in stunned silence as the girl begins to calm down and Regina lets go immediately. She scoots back, giving her daughter some space.

“Mama’s here,” she coos. “You’re safe, baby. Mama loves you.” She repeats this over and over, almost like a chant. Faith does not turn towards her, but slowly the tension begins to leave her body. Without any warning, she begins to sing, of all things, the theme song to the Golden Girls.

_Thank you for being a friend_

_Travel down the road and back again_

_Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidante._

She gives Regina the briefest of glances and she joins in for the next part. This routine has been repeated hundreds of times over the years. She knows very well which part she is supposed to sing along with and when she is supposed to be quiet.

_And if you threw a party_

_Invited everyone you knew_

_You would see, the biggest gift would be from me_

_And the card attached would say_

Regina quiets down and Faith finishes the song by herself.

_Thank you for being a friend._

The song is repeated several more times until Faith begins to yawn.

“Are you sleepy, baby? Would you like to go lie down?”

Faith does not answer her, but she stands up and heads to the stairs. She stops at the foot of them and this is Regina’s cue to walk up with her and tuck her in. As Emma waits for her to come back downstairs, she brews a pot of tea in the kitchen.

When Regina returns, she hands her a cup of tea without a word.

“Got anything stronger?” Regina jokes and the moment is so patently _them,_ that for a moment the years fall away and they are just Emma and Regina again.

“Regina,” Emma begins, but Regina puts up a hand. She needs time to recover after an episode. Emma understands and they bring their tea into the living room, drinking quietly and enjoying each other’s company.

At last, Regina puts her mug down. She knows Emma is waiting for her to speak, but she has no idea where to begin. Without warning, Emma pulls her into her arms and Regina melts into the embrace. It has been so long since anyone has touched her with any sort of gentleness that it is suddenly impossible to hold her need in.

Without thinking about what she is doing, she pulls back from Emma’s arms and kisses her. The kiss lasts only seconds before she stops, horrified at what she has done.

“Oh god, Emma. I’m sorry,” but Emma just pulls her back in for another kiss. This one lasts longer and when it is over, Emma flashes her famous mischievous grin.

“Don’t be sorry,” she says. “I’m sure as hell not.”

Regina sits back in relief. Emma watches her for a moment and then says, “Lie down.”

She hesitates. “Emma….” She says, unsure of how to phrase it.

“It’s just for a massage,” Emma explains. “You look tense as hell.”

Regina lies down on her stomach and Emma begins to rub her shoulders. Nothing in her life has ever felt this good.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Emma asks.

For a few minutes Regina is quiet. Then, as she relaxes under Emma’s gentle touch, it all comes out. How badly she wants to help her daughter. How useless she feels in the face of her rage. How frightened she is for both of them. She describes all the therapies she has tried and how she just wants to love Faith without second guessing every decision she makes.

She talks about how she is brought back to being restrained by Cora every time she is forced to wrap her arms around Faith and not let go. That she feels so guilty because she knows, she _knows,_ how frightening it is to be prevented from moving. Still, after the second concussion that resulted from Faith’s headbanging, she just doesn’t know what else to do.

Emma listens quietly, not saying a word. Her mind is filled with things she wants to say, like how Regina is doing such an incredible job and how she is just in awe of her, but somehow, she knows this would not be appreciated. So, instead she just listens.

When Regina quiets at last, she asks the question that is burning at her mind. “Do you think that maybe Faith needs more help than you can give her?”

Regina glances up at that and while there are tears in her eyes, her voice is steely. “She’s my daughter, Emma. I could no more give up on her than I could on Henry.”

They both fall silent for a moment at that, thinking of their college graduate, out there in the world.

Emma pauses for a moment, then continues to rub Regina’s back and shoulders. “Robin?” she asks.

Regina grimaces at the question, the familiar guilt twisting in her gut. “He never laid a hand on me. This town treated him so badly and he never said a word in his own defense. I never spoke up for him either.”

Emma nods. “He did leave,” she points out and that is true. Robin did leave her, but Regina has never faulted him for that. Robin, in so many ways is like her father. So good at soft words of comfort and so thoroughly useless at everything else. She may not blame him for leaving, but she has no desire to bring him back, either.

“He always thought that I adopted her as part of my redemption. Some sort of penance, to make up for the fact that I caused you to grow up in the foster system.”

“Did you?”

She sits up at that and looks Emma in the eye. “I’ve done a lot of things for my redemption, Emma,” she says. “But this is not one of them. I adopted her because I knew we were meant to be together. I love her.”

Emma thinks about this and thinks about how lonely the last few years must have been. “Regina,” she asks. “Why didn’t you ever tell anyone? Why didn’t you tell _me?_ ”

At last Regina breaks down. She has no idea how to describe the shame of not being able to keep her child safe or the paralyzing fear that if she tells anyone the truth, they will take Faith away from her. There are no words to explain it and so she just cries as Emma holds her.

When at last she calms, Emma kisses her again and interlaces their fingers. “You’re not going to do this alone anymore,” she says firmly. “I’m here now.”

“Emma,” she tries to explain. “I have no energy to put into a relationship. Nothing left to give.”

Emma silences her with a kiss. “You’re not going to give anything. For once, Regina, you are going to let yourself accept.”

 _‘Accept what?’_ she wonders and though she does not ask the question out loud, Emma seems to understand.

“Accept support. Accept _love_. I love you, Regina.”

Love. The idea is so foreign. It has been so long since anyone has told her they love her. She isn’t sure she has any idea how to accept love anymore, but she knows she loves Emma. She can feel the truth in that, as well as she knows her own name.

“Regina?”

She knows what Emma is asking, that she wants to know if Regina will let her.

“Ok,” she whispers.

Emma smiles and holds her close once more. Closing her eyes, Regina allows herself to breathe.

The future is still uncertain, but right now at this very moment, she has Emma Swan. And that is enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma bonds with Faith. Regina reconnects with an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot, but it is still kind of living in my head. I don't make any guarantees about how often it will be updated, but for now I am going to leave it open.

Regina’s eyes snap open at 5:59am sharp, one minute before her alarm clock goes off. This has been her routine for years now. She turns the alarm clock off before it can buzz, slides her feet into her slippers and goes to start the coffee.

_Bzzz bzzz_

Her phone has not buzzed with a text this early in the morning since the old days when she was the Mayor. No one, other than Faith, needs her anymore. She isn’t entirely sure how she feels about that.

_Bzzz bzzz_

Another text. She glances down at her phone.

_Good Morning, beautiful._

She smiles at the text, then opens the second one. It is a picture of Emma grinning at the camera on her phone with a goofy smile. Her hair is rumpled, and her eyes are only half open, but she looks beautiful.

**_Good Morning._ **

_What are you doing?_

**_Making coffee._ **

_Yum! Can I join you?_

She hesitates at the question. She would love to see Emma, but her morning routine is essential to her mental health. Besides, she looks like a mess.

_Bzzz bzzz_

She glances down at her phone again.

_I don’t care what you look like. I just want to spend some time with you before Faith wakes up. If you are ok with that._

She bites her lip, considering.

**_Ok. Come on over._ **

She can barely stifle her chuckle when Emma appears with a poof less than 5 seconds later.

“I have a front door, Swan,” she teases.

“Why on earth would I make you walk to the front door before you have had coffee?”

Regina smirks as she pulls 2 mugs down from her cupboard and pours the coffee. If Emma is surprised that the mugs are made from thick plastic instead of ceramic, she doesn’t comment.

It is a pleasant surprise when Emma takes her mug and goes to sit by the fireplace without a word. It is as though she can sense that Regina needs some quiet time in the morning before she is ready for conversation. She had been worried that the disruption to her morning routine would make her feel off balance, but Emma’s presence there is nothing but comforting.

20 minutes pass in peaceful silence before they begin to hear stirring from upstairs. A door opens and closes, indicating that Faith has woken up and is in the bathroom.

“She’ll be down in 10 minutes,” Regina says quietly. There is no doubt about that; the routine never varies.

6:30-Faith wakes up

6:40-Faith comes downstairs

7:00- breakfast

It never changes and today is no different. 6:40 on the nose, Faith comes downstairs and helps herself to a glass of orange juice as she waits for breakfast.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Regina says. There is no response, but a quick glance her way makes Regina think that this has the potential to be a good day. Faith is smiling.

“Good morning, Faith,” Emma says quietly. She is standing at the doorway to the kitchen, not wanting to enter the room and startle her. Faith does not even look in her direction.

Regina places 3 plates of bacon and eggs down on the table, along with a tray of toast. Emma cautiously takes her seat at the table, watching as Faith begins to rock back and forth. She is clearly agitated by the new face and Regina can feel the alarm rise inside of her. She stiffens automatically and Emma puts a comforting hand on her wrist.

“My name is Emma,” she says, careful to keep her voice low and unthreatening. “It’s nice to see you again, Faith.”

Faith continues to rock, but her hand reaches out, towards Emma’s hip pocket. Emma looks down to see her shiny badge and glances at Regina to make sure it is ok. Regina nods and Emma takes the badge off and slides it across the table to Faith. She picks it up and turns it over in her hand, fingers running across the front of it. Regina lets out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding, and breakfast passes without further incident.

\-----------------------------------------

"One hour, Regina!”

“No!”

“Come on, Regina. You need this. When was the last time you went anywhere without her?”

The question is ridiculous. She has _never_ gone anywhere without Faith since the day she brought her home. Even when she worked, she brought Faith with her to the office. Robin had been afraid to be left alone with her and there is no one Regina trusts enough to leave her with.

“Regina, talk to me,” Emma pleads, and Regina suddenly realizes how tense her posture has become since the start of this argument.

“Emma, I understand that you are trying to help, but this is a bad idea. Faith has never been without me since I brought her home.”

“Yeah, that is kind of my point. You need a break. And it is just for an hour.” She knows it is unfair, but she can’t help but curse Robin in her mind for not ever giving Regina time off while he was here.

“Where would I even go?” Regina mutters, but Emma can see she is beginning to waver.

“Go for a walk. Go for a drive. Go to the library. Go get a mani/pedi. Go visit a friend. Go get a cup of coffee at Granny’s,” she rattles off. “And that’s just what I came up with off the top of my head. This used to be _your_ town, Regina. Don’t you miss it?”

Trying not to let her hurt at the “used to be” comment show, she begins to waver. Emma senses the hesitation and moves in for the kill. “I’ll keep my phone on me the whole time. If anything happens you can poof back here in seconds.”

She considers the truth of that and grudgingly agrees. “One hour.”

\------------------------------------------------

She ends up on the benches by the docks, the spot of one of her first real conversations with Emma, back when she was still Miss Swan and Regina was still trying to destroy her. It has been almost 15 years since that day, but it still somehow feels like yesterday. That day had been chilly, she remembers. She had been able to see her breath in the air as the two of them argued.

Today it is chilly as well, though not quite as cold. She finds she is actually quite comfortable sitting there alone, looking at the water. Perhaps Emma had been right, after all.

She does not look up when she hears someone approach, but when the footsteps do not pass her or recede into the distance, she pulls her gaze from the water to see who has come to join her. What she sees gives her pause.

“Maleficent.”

The blonde remains standing in front of the bench, silently holding out a cup of coffee. Regina accepts it gratefully and takes a sip before speaking. “What are you doing here?”

“You looked cold,” the dragon replies. She gestures towards the bench. “May I?”

“Of course.”

Maleficent sits and Regina looks at her as she sips her coffee. “Why are you really here, Mal?”

Maleficent smiles faintly at the nickname. “You looked like you could use a friend,” she says simply.

A friend.

She could use a friend, that is true. But in her wildest dreams, she never thought it would be _Maleficent_ that would step in to try and fill that role. Not after everything they put each other through.

“Tongues are wagging around town about you and the Savior,” Maleficent comments.

“Tongues are always wagging around this town.” Regina rolls her eyes. She cannot be bothered with gossip anymore.

“Is it true?”

Regina considers her answer carefully. “I’m not exactly sure what they are saying, but yes. I suppose it is.” She cannot hide a smile at that and Maleficent smiles back at her.

“I’m glad for you.”

“You are? Why?” she asks bluntly.

“Regina, you’re my oldest friend,” Maleficent points out, shaking her head. “Why wouldn’t I be happy for you?”

There are so many reasons that Regina cannot begin to name them. Years of history and animosity between them should make them natural enemies.

“May I ask you something?”

The dragon glances at her with a small smile. “Of course,” she says.

Unsure of how to phrase it, she measures her thoughts. At last she says, “How did you do it?”

Maleficent furrows her brow, confused. “Do what?”

“How did you get here? After everything you’ve been through, how are you able to move forward as well as you do?”

“I wasn’t always like this,” Maleficent points out. “I used to be bitter and angry. Until someone burst into my castle a long time ago and reminded me that I can be whoever I want to be.”

Regina pictures her younger self storming into the Forbidden Fortress all those years ago and demanding that Maleficent turn back into a dragon. The memory puts a smile on her face and when she looks up, Maleficent is smiling as well.

It is odd to think this about an age old beast that once terrorized the Enchanted Forest, but it occurs suddenly to Regina that Maleficent may be the most forgiving person she knows. She shakes her head in amazement.

“What?”

“You had your child stolen from you,” she points out. “I trapped you underground for 28 years and you were stabbed through the heart. Yet, you’ve managed to forgive everyone and find peace. How did you do it?”

Maleficent shrugs. “I chose to be happy, same as you. When you are as old as I am, you learn that living in the past is exhausting.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Mal.”

Mal takes her hand. “I know. I forgive you.”

She goes to drop Regina’s hand then and as she does, the sleeve of Regina’s jacket pushes up a bit, revealing a purple bruise that has not fully healed. Maleficent looks at it for a long moment.

“So. Not Robin, then,” she says.

Regina pulls her hand back and pushes the sleeve down, self-conscious. “No.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t kill him,” Mal says lightly and Regina laughs a bit, despite her discomfort.

Without warning, Maleficent takes off her jacket and unbuttons the top button of her blouse, pushing down the collar to reveal a burn mark on her right shoulder.

“What happened?”

“Back when Lily was learning to control her dragon magic, she burned me a few times.”

Regina looks up sharply at that to see Mal looking at her with compassion. “I know it’s not the same thing. But I do understand feeling afraid of the one you are supposed to protect. If you need a friend to talk to, I’m here.”

\---------------------------------------------

Her talk with Maleficent made time pass quickly and suddenly Regina realizes she has been gone for over an hour. She decides to poof home instead of walking. Fearful of poofing into the house and startling her daughter, she instead transports herself to the front door.

The sound of squealing makes her look up in surprise and she follows it to her backyard. What she sees warms her heart in a way that she could never have imagined.

Faith is running around the backyard, holding a plastic shopping bag. She throws it up in the air and chases it as the wind carries it around the yard. Emma is by the gate to ensure that Faith does not try to leave and when the bag falls near her, she picks it up and hands it to the teenager.

The action would appear completely unimportant to a bystander, but Regina knows that Faith taking the bag from Emma’s hand without hesitation means that the blonde had patiently offered it to her many times over the hour or so she has been gone. She clears her throat softly, not wanting to interrupt them.

“You’re back!” Emma comes over and kisses her on the lips. “We missed you, babe.”

They stand side by side, watching the girl play.

“Is this ok?” Emma asks worriedly. The question seems absurd, but Regina knows she is asking because the last time Emma bonded with a child Regina raised, it started a war that nearly cost Henry his life. The idea seems ridiculous now. The smile on Faith’s face is nothing short of magical and the fact that it was put there by the woman she loves just makes the moment more perfect.

She puts her arm around Emma. “More than ok,” she reassures her.

Emma grins. “So, what did you do with your free time?”

“Actually, I ran into Maleficent and we spent some time catching up.”

“That’s great, babe,” Emma says.

“Really?” She knows that there are always questions about her past with Maleficent and the fact that they are both so private means that the questions were never answered, leading to all manner of speculation.

“Of course. You’re loved in this town, Regina. I think it’s great that you are reconnecting with your friends. Maybe you should give my mother a call, she asks about you all the time.”

Regina nods. Perhaps she will do that, but right now something else entirely is on her mind.

“Emma?”

Emma looks up from handing Faith the bag yet again. “Yes?”

She hesitates. “I’m not sure how to ask this.” Despite everything, this is absurdly embarrassing.

“Just ask,” Emma encourages.

She tries to gather her courage, telling herself it is ridiculous to feel like a fumbling teenager asking her girlfriend to the prom. They are both grown women.

“Would you…do you maybe want to spend the night?”

Emma’s eyes widen. Their relationship had taken kind of a backwards road to their current situation. They have both declared their feelings, but beyond a few kisses and back rubs, there has been very little physical contact. Emma is more than ready, but she had promised Regina that she would place no expectations on her. She knows Regina loves her, but until that moment, she did not know when Regina would be ready for more.

“Are you sure?” she asks.

Regina nods. “I just need you to know that….” Her voice trails off and she looks at Emma who is waiting patiently.

“Late afternoon and evening can be a challenging time of day,” she says. “I don’t know for sure that-“ she stops speaking again, frustrated with herself.

Emma helps her out. “You don’t know what mood you’ll be in tonight?”

Regina looks relieved that she is understood. “Is that ok?”

“Of course, babe. I am here for all of it. The rough nights very much included.”

“And who knows," Regina adds. "Maybe if it does turn into a rough night, you can help me get back in the mood I am in now.”

“I can do that,” Emma says, eyes beginning to gleam.

Regina chuckles. “I have faith in you dear,” she says and with a kiss that promises of things to come, she leaves to start the second meal of the day that will include all 3 of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faith reacts to Emma's continued presence. Emma and Regina take the next step in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to keep the rating on this story T, at least for now. I suspect that some of you may have been expecting a bit of smut based on how the last chapter ended, but I think that the tone of this story calls for something a bit different than the type of stuff I normally write. All sexual encounters will be kept general and relatively SFW.

Dinner passes pleasantly enough and Regina marvels at the fact that Emma has now spent the whole day with them and so far, Faith seems completely unbothered by it. Emma seems to know instinctively when to speak to Faith and when to leave her alone. She listens intently when Faith and Regina engage in their musical scripts and Regina knows that she is taking note of which songs are sung at different points of the day.

It is early evening and Faith has wandered into the living room to watch music videos on YouTube. Regina is washing the dinner dishes when Emma comes in to join her.

“What the hell am I listening to?” she asks, laughing.

Regina chuckles. “Laurie Berkner,” she says. “The woman is a lifesaver.”

“Who is she?”

Regina stops what she is doing and pulls out her phone to show her a clip of the singer. “She’s a children’s musician. Faith loves her.”

Sure enough, they can hear Faith singing along with the TV.

_Waiting for the elevator_

_Might come sooner, might come later_

_When it does, I’ll step inside and go for a ride_

_Press the button, one_

“One!” squeals Faith and bursts out laughing.

“That girl can really sing,” comments Emma.

“I know. Listening to her is one of my favorite things to do,” Regina confesses. “Unfortunately, she doesn’t take requests, or I would ask her to sing Fight Song for you.”

“Fight Song?” Emma asks, laughing.

“Mmm hmm. She can really belt it out. Of course, it becomes a little less enjoyable after you’ve listened to it for 4 hours straight in the car.”

“I’ll bet. Where were you guys headed?”

“Boston Children’s Hospital,” Regina says, but she does not elaborate on the purpose of the visit.

“Does she speak at all?”

“No. She just sings. But over time, we’ve learned to communicate that way.”

“How?” Emma asks.

“It’s hard to explain, but her songs all represent something. She is able to tell me some of her needs and even some of her emotions by selecting a specific song to sing.”

“That’s incredible.”

At that, Regina flashes a smile over her shoulder as she goes to start the coffee pot. “She’s a pretty incredible kid.”

It is stunning to Regina; the amount of effort Emma is expending in trying to understand and bond with her daughter. Robin had treated her kindly enough. He had certainly never hurt her or even raised his voice to her. But he had shown little interest in getting to know her and worse, he had spoken about her while she was in the room as though she didn’t exist. It had driven Regina crazy.

“What’s on your mind, beautiful?” Emma comes over and rubs her shoulders. She closes her eyes for a moment and enjoys the sensation.

“Nothing that matters now,” she says firmly, and Emma does not push the subject. Instead she points to the coffee pot.

“Coffee at 8 pm?” she teases. “Planning a late night, Mills?”

Regina rolls her eyes. “Very funny.”

“Is my fascinating company not enough to keep you awake?”

“Not nearly,” Regina shoots back. “You’re not that entertaining and I’m not as young as I once was.”

“Yeah, how old _are_ you?” she asks and ducks as a dish towel is thrown at her head.

“Miss Swan, I suggest you stop talking unless you want me to have a reason not to drink this coffee.”

Emma pretends to zip her lips and Regina rolls her eyes again. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yep.” She kisses her then and all is forgiven.

\---------------------------------------------

It is near Faith’s bedtime when the first sign of a hiccup shows up. Faith has showered, taken her evening medication, and is sitting on the couch when Regina tells her it is time for bed.

The book flying at her head takes her by surprise. It has been a good day until now and Regina has no idea what prompted it. Before she has a chance to try and figure it out, Faith rushes at her with her head lowered, the intention to headbutt her in the stomach clear.

Instinctively, Regina’s hand flies out and lands on Faith’s head, preventing it from slamming into her abdomen. She strokes her hair in hopes that this will calm her, but it does not. Faith twists away and runs towards the garage.

This routine is a familiar one, though it has not shown up in a while. When Regina first brought her home, Faith used to run towards every exit in the home in an attempt to escape the new environment. Regina has never figured out why the garage is the exit she settled on, but it is where she goes when she feels unsafe. Her heart sinks when she realizes that Faith is not angry, as she originally suspected, but afraid.

“Regina?”

Emma is suddenly by her side.

“Make sure all the doors are locked. I’ll go to the garage.”

Emma nods and disappears as Regina goes to find Faith. She relaxes when she sees that her daughter is not banging her head or biting herself, just hugging herself and rocking back and forth vigorously. Cautiously, she approaches, but stops when Faith suddenly hurls her shoe at her, hitting her directly in the forehead.

She takes several deep breaths, counting silently to 5 with each one and goes to turn on the CD player she keeps in the garage for just this sort of event. Sometimes the music can help Faith relax, but today her hands fly up to cover her ears and she shrieks in obvious agony. The sound is clearly too much for her to handle right now and Regina turns it off hastily.

“Regina?” Emma is at the garage door now. She wants to help, but she is worried that entering the garage will scare Faith more. Regina glances at her, and deciding her daughter is safe for the moment, goes to join her at the doorway.

“I cast a protection spell around the backyard while I was locking up. Do you think maybe some fresh air would help?”

She considers the idea, chewing on her bottom lip. It is something she has not tried before, and she has to admit that it is a good idea. She walks over to the side door and flips the lock open. Startled by the sudden action, Faith stops shrieking.

“Do you want to go outside, baby?” Her heart warms when the girl’s face lights up. She hands her daughter her shoe back and the three of them go out to the backyard.

“I don’t know what scared her so badly,” she says as they watch Faith run around the backyard.

“It’s me,” Emma replies. “She is used to having you to herself and she is afraid of my presence here.”

Regina does not ask how she knows this. She senses that as a former lost girl, Emma understands her daughter in a way even she never will. She nods slowly.

“Should I leave?”

“Not just yet. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

What happens is that Faith has found her plastic bag again and she is tossing it in the air. When it lands at their feet, Emma picks it up.

“Faith,” she says quietly, holding the bag out for her to take. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I promise you, your Mama will always be here to make sure you are safe.”

“Always, baby,” Regina adds. “You will always be the most important thing in the world to me.”

For a moment, Faith stands still, as they both hold their breath. Then she takes the bag from Emma’s hand and runs off to throw it again. Their breaths release simultaneously, and Regina takes Emma’s hand.

“Stay,” she says.

\-------------------------------------------------

The first kiss on Regina’s bed is different than all the others they have shared up until this point. It is deeper and hungrier, and Regina is amazed by what it stirs inside of her.

“You good, sweetheart?”

Sweetheart.

Why do terms of endearment sound so natural coming off of Emma’s tongue? She has never been a fan before; she has always thought they sounded a bit silly. But from Emma, it sounds right to be called sweetheart.

“Regina?”

“I’m good,” she assures her and kisses her again. Conversation is lost as their kissing becomes more intense and when Emma reaches up to undress her, her eyes close in enjoyment. The act of unbuttoning her blouse feels intimate, as though she were granting permission for Emma to perform tasks for her that she has only ever done herself in the past.

The only person to see her naked in years has been Robin and though he often told her she was beautiful, it always felt as though it was said as a down payment to be allowed to touch her. She _knows_ she is beautiful; enough people have told her so over her lifetime, but no has ever looked at her with the devotion that Emma’s eyes now hold.

Emma’s gaze as it travels down her body feels as intimate as if she were touching her. She is too old to be shy, but somehow finds that the adoration in Emma’s eyes is unnerving and she is having difficulty maintaining eye contact.

She breaks the moment by helping Emma out of her own clothes and suddenly understands what the blonde felt a moment earlier. Emma is stunning. Every scar on her body represents a time that she put herself in harm’s way for another. Every bruise and cut looks like a badge of love and honor. She would be content to stare at her all night if the devotion in the blonde’s eyes was not quickly turning to hunger.

They take their time, stroking gently until they are both panting with need. No one has taken the time to learn her body, what turns her on or makes her groan in desperation, in so many years, that it feels as though she is re-learning secrets about herself she has long since forgotten.

When they are both satisfied, they remain wrapped in each other’s arms until Regina detangles one arm to rest her hand on the blonde’s head and stroke her hair. She can tell by the quiet noises of contentment how much Emma enjoys the sensation, so she leaves her fingers where they are as they lay together in silence.

The quiet is broken by Emma’s whisper of “I love you” and their lips meet in a soft kiss. She shakes her head in amazement.

“What?” asks Emma.

“Why did we wait so long to do this?”

The moment shifts as they break into laughter. “Who would have thunk it, huh?” Emma says.

“Not me,” Regina agrees.

It does seem somewhat unthinkable. Emma and Regina. The Sherriff and the Mayor. The Savior and the Evil Queen.

Mortal enemies. Best friends. And now, this.

“Thank you,” she says, before she can stop herself.

“What for?”

“I don’t feel alone anymore. I can’t remember the last time that I felt that way.” She does not complete the thought that, in reality, she has never felt that way.

“You’re not,” Emma says. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Certain that it is true, Regina drifts off to sleep in Emma's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina come to a startling realization.

“What was that about?” Emma asks as Regina hangs up the phone.

“That was Kathryn,” Regina replies, rubbing her hands across her forehead. “She asked me to come to City Hall and help her with the budget.”

“Is she having trouble with it?”

“Mmhmm.” Regina keeps the answer vague, ashamed to tell Emma the truth. Kathryn _is_ having trouble writing the new budget, but that is because Regina has not given her the tools she needed to succeed in the job. She had meant to, but the last few months she was Mayor had been exhausting. Faith had rebelled against coming to the office nearly every day and the work had piled up until Regina had given up completely. She turned the position over to Kathryn without really teaching her the ins and outs of the job.

“Are you going to go?”

Regina hesitates. “I’m not sure. Faith is having a rough day and I don’t think I’ll get much done with her there.”

“So, leave her home. I can stay here.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

Emma snorts at that. “It’s Storybrooke,” she reminds the former Mayor. “I’m sure it will be fine. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time I took a spontaneous day off.” She stops speaking at the sight of Regina’s glare.

“Did you do that when I was your boss?” she demands.

Emma backpedals immediately. “Of course not, Madam Mayor,” she assures her.

The name hits her like a sucker punch. She used to love to be called Madam Mayor; it was a name that commanded respect and solidified her position in the town. In private, she is even willing to admit that the name gave her a little thrill, particularly when Emma used it in the old days.

“Nothing,” she tries to deny, but Emma isn’t having it.

“I don’t think so, Regina. What is it?”

She shakes her head. Now is not the time for this discussion. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she insists, and Emma relents.

“Ok.”

Regina looks at her in shock. “Really? That’s it? You’re not going to demand I open up?” she asks.

Emma silently curses Robin in her mind yet again. “Of course not. You’re a grown woman, Regina. If you say there is something you don’t want to talk about, then I respect that. You’ll open up when you’re ready.”

She is startled by the sudden hard kiss that is planted on her lips. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

“I just love you. Isn’t that reason enough?”

Emma laughs. “Works for me, Madam Mayor.” This time the wince is more noticeable, and Emma sees it. “Do you want me to stop calling you that?”

“Please,” Regina says simply.

“You used to like it.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

“I’m dense, Regina, not blind,” she says, making Regina laugh.

“So why don’t you want me to call you that?”

“It’s not who I am anymore,” Regina replies. The words sound self-deprecating, even pathetic, to her own ears, but she can’t help it. The sudden destruction of her career is something she never talks about, but it is something that she thinks about nearly every day.

She has never really talked about the amount of work that had gone into designing Storybrooke. She knows that most people just think she cast the curse and _poof_ , Storybrooke came into being. But in reality, she had spent hours in Rumple’s library after he had been imprisoned, studying all his texts about the Land Without Magic in her quest to create a functioning municipality.

She had succeeded, too. For all of their resentment about the dark curse, the only one she was really interested in punishing was Snow White and she had thrown all of her time and energy into setting up a role for each citizen that perfectly matched their skill set. Her success had been obvious when the residents, given the choice to return to the Enchanted Forest, by and large chose to stay.

Her ability to juggle her responsibilities as Mayor and Henry’s mother has always felt like one of her greatest successes. That success has been compounded over the years, each time Storybrooke held their election and she beat every opponent by a landslide. Her inability to replicate that success with Faith haunts her mind constantly. In her most private moments, she considers it her greatest failure.

“Regina?” She is pulled from her sudden bout of self-pity by the sound of Emma’s voice. Grateful for the interruption, she turns to her.

“Sorry, what did you say?” she asks.

“I asked if you wanted me to stay here with Faith.”

She hesitates. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

Emma pulls her close and kisses her. “Of course not, babe. We’re partners, you and me.”

Partners. Damn, that word sounds good.

She makes a snap decision. “Ok. I won’t be long.”

“I expect nothing less,” Emma says, rolling her eyes.

Regina laughs. “There’s leftover lasagna in the fridge you can heat up for lunch. After that, she has an hour of school and then she can have free time until I get home.”

“What does she need to do for school?”

“Follow me downstairs and I’ll show you.” She turns to go but hears Emma’s voice before she gets to the door.

“Regina?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ll always be Madam Mayor to me,” Emma says softly. When she turns around, she sees the trademark impish grin on the blonde’s face and finds herself laughing despite the emotion rising in her chest.

 _‘Sentimental old fool,’_ she scolds herself, but the smile does not fade from her face as she walks downstairs.

\-----------------------------------------------------

“I’m so sorry, Kathryn,” she says for what feels like the hundredth time.

“You can stop apologizing, Regina. This isn’t your fault,” Kathryn replies, yet again.

That simply isn’t true, but Regina does not see how she can make Kathryn see that. “I didn’t set you up for success at all.”

“Maybe not,” Kathryn concedes. “But I was your deputy for your last two terms, and I’ve been Mayor since you resigned last year. At this point, the responsibility to figure this out lies on me, not you. So, can we stop assigning blame and just get it done, please?”

Regina nods and Katherine connects the computer to the conference room projector so that they can both see the spreadsheet. The next 2 hours are spent crunching numbers, checking figures, and making budget decisions. At last, they stand up and stretch.

Kathryn looks at her gratefully. “I think I got it from here, Regina.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You’re really good at this.”

“You are still going to need to present this to all the department heads for a vote,” she reminds Kathryn. “But I think you’ve got a really strong baseline here that should satisfy all of them.”

 _‘Particularly the Sherriff’s department,’_ she thinks with a smirk. She can’t wait to tell Emma that she found room in the town’s budget for a new cruiser and an computer system.

Katherine reads her face perfectly. “Showing a bit of favoritism there, aren’t you?”

“I’m not a city official,” she says with a scoff. “It’s not my favoritism that will fall under scrutiny.”

“That reminds me,” Kathryn replies. “What do you think about coming back to work?”

“I don’t want your job, Kathryn.”

“Good, because I’m not offering it to you,” Kathryn laughs. “But I think we both know that numbers aren’t really my strong suit. We haven’t had a town comptroller here in a long time and I think that would really help us out.”

Regina considers this for a moment. “I don’t know,” she says slowly. “My life is kind of hectic right now.”

“Will you think about it? It is not a job that takes up a huge amount of time and it can mostly be done at home. The pay is garbage, but-

Regina waves that off. Money isn’t the concern, obviously. “I’ll think about it,” she says.

“Good. If you decide to do it, I can appoint you for 90 days in an interim capacity, but then we will need to hold a special election.” Her voice trails off when she sees Regina laughing at her. “You know all this already, don’t you?”

“Considering I wrote the town charter, yes dear. I do.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“That’s ok,” Regina says. “Explaining how things work is part of your job.”

“I miss working with you,” Kathryn admits. “Not that that needs to be a factor in your decision, I just thought you would like to know that.”

“For the life of me, I can’t imagine why you would, but it is nice to hear anyway.” She puts her jacket on and pulls her gloves out of her pockets. “I need to get going. Don’t hesitate to call me if there is anything else you need.”

\-------------------------------------------------

She hears the screaming as soon as she opens the door. She rushes in, looking for Emma and Faith. She does not want to call out, but she knows she needs to find them as quickly as possible and so she focuses her energy on reaching out to Emma’s magic.

They are upstairs.

She is halfway up the stairs, taking them two at a time, when she sees them. Emma is trying to keep Faith still but is having no success in calming her down. She sees Emma try to wrap her daughter in a bear hug the way she has seen Regina do it before, but Faith pushes her elbow into Sherriff’s ribs, causing her to lose her breath for a moment and stumble back.

“Are you ok?” she yells up the stairs.

Big mistake. Faith turns around and at the sight of her mother, runs down the stairs like a bull charging. She shoves her head into Regina’s stomach, and she falls backwards. Faith stumbles as well and in desperation, Regina holds her girl to try and ensure that Faith will land on top of her when they reach the bottom.

“Regina!” She hears Emma shout her name as she falls, clutching Faith tight to her. She lands on her wrist and can already the feel the shooting pain in it as she tries to sit up.

“I’m ok!” She tries to hold her hand up to prevent Emma from rushing over, but the pain as she raises her arm is excruciating.

Emma stops at the foot of the stairs. “What do you want me to do?”

Regina glances at her daughter who is still screaming, but thankfully not trying to escape her arms. She makes a quick decision. “Get me an Ativan from the medicine cabinets. Root beer in the pink straw cup,” she says.

Emma obeys and by the time she comes back with the pills and cup, Regina has maneuvered the two of them to a sitting position. Emma quickly hands the items to Faith, then turns to Regina.

“Let me see your arm,” she says.

“I’m fine, Emma,” she tries, but Emma interrupts her.

“Let. Me. See. Your. Arm.” she orders. Regina doesn’t argue again, just holds her wrist out for Emma to see, wincing when Emma touches it gently.

“Looks broken,” Emma comments.

“It's probably just a sprain,” Regina says. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Emma knows there is no chance Regina will let her use magic to heal it as long as Faith is around, so she goes to the kitchen and gets some ice. Faith glances at the ice pack but does not stop singing the Golden Girls.

\---------------------------------------------

They order pizza for dinner and once they are done eating, Emma brews a pot of tea. Faith goes to the living room to watch YouTube and Emma and Regina take their drinks into the den by the fireplace.

“What happened?” Regina asks quietly.

“I am honestly not sure,” Emma admits and Regina nods. This is not at all unusual.

“I’m so sorry Regina.”

Regina puts down her mug and takes Emma’s hand with her good one. “For what, darling?”

“I don’t know,” Emma says with a sigh. “I let it get so bad and now you’re hurt.”

“I’m ok,” she repeats for the 3rd time.

“You’re not. Let me see.” Rolling her eyes a bit, Regina reaches out her arm, wincing again.

“Regina, this is definitely broken. It is completely swollen and I am betting you can’t move it at all.”

“It’s not,” she tries to insist.

“Wiggle your fingers, then,” Emma orders.

She doesn’t even try to comply and Emma nods.

“I thought so. Look, I know you don’t like using magic at home, but please let me heal this.”

“You can’t,” Regina says.

“I’ll be quick, Regina,” she begs, but Regina shakes her head vehemently.

“No. I mean you can’t. It won’t work.”

“Wait, what? Why not?”

“I honestly have no idea. I just know that magic can’t get rid of these bruises.”

“Are you sure?”

“Emma, do you think I would have walked around with all these bruises for 4 years if healing myself were an option?” she asks.

Emma concedes the point. “Ok, fair enough. But it doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. But then, there’s a lot about this situation that is confusing.”

“Either way, Regina, we need to do something about your wrist. If I can’t heal it, we need to take you to the Emergency Room.”

“Not going to happen. I’m not leaving Faith. Let’s just see how it feels in the morning.”

“Yeah, not a chance. Maybe Whale can make a house call.”

The infamous eyebrow raises and a snort escapes Regina before she can stop it. “There is no way I am allowing that idiot anywhere near here. If you must call someone, call Doc.”

As they wait for Doc to arrive, they pick up their conversation again.

“How did you know to come to my house that day a few weeks ago?”

“What do you mean?” Emma asks, confused. “I told you, I followed your magic.”

“I haven’t used magic in this house in years, Emma,” she says.

“That doesn't make sense. Is it possible you used it without realizing?”

“Miss Swan, how long do you think I have been practicing magic?” Emma opens her mouth to answer, but Regina puts up her good hand. “Don’t answer that question,” she says, and Emma has to chuckle a bit.

“What makes you so sure it was my magic you sensed?” Regina asks.

“It led me straight here. Who else could it have been?”

“Perhaps someone sent you to me. I’m not sure who would do that, though.”

“I don’t think so,” Emma argues. “The magic got stronger the closer I got to your house. I am sure it originated here.”

They look at each other for a moment, then jump up to run to the living room. Faith is there, singing her heart out. They stare at each other in shock, as the possibility occurs to both of them at the same time.

“Faith has magic!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The possibility of Faith being magical is confirmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have probably posted this last chapter, but better late than never. A big thank you to Zaquinha for the idea that the magic that reached out for help in Chapter 1 belonged to Faith and not Regina. It made the story really take off in my head.

In the end, Doc insists that Regina has no choice but to go to the hospital for x-rays. Emma refuses to stay at home and suddenly Regina finds herself agreeing to break Faith’s routine at 9pm so that they can all go together. The thought would have been frightening even a few weeks ago, but somehow it seems manageable now.

When Regina returns from the X-ray room to await Dr. Whale’s arrival, she is amazed at the sight that greets her. Faith is asleep in her chair, her head resting on Emma’s chest. Emma is stroking her hair gently, her other hand resting softly on Faith’s back. Normally Faith is in constant motion, but in sleep her body tends to remain still, sometimes even rigid. Tonight, despite the uncomfortable chair she is asleep in, her body appears relaxed in Emma’s arms.

She cannot help herself. This moment needs to be captured. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and snaps a quick picture. The noise of the camera makes Emma look up and she smiles at the sight of her lover in the doorway. Quickly, Regina snaps another picture before she puts her phone away and enters the room.

“How’s the wrist?” Emma whispers, as though the action of holding Faith in her sleep is so normal that it is not even worth commenting on. Regina smiles softly to herself and chooses not to comment either.

“Not too bad. The painkillers help.”

They talk softly while they wait for Dr. Whale to arrive.

“Could she really have magic?” Emma asks the question that is on both of their minds.

“It’s hard to say. I’ve been practicing magic for a long time and I haven’t sensed any from her, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t.”

“How should we find out?”

“I’m not really sure we should,” Regina replies. “It would likely mean subjecting her to tests that could traumatize her pretty significantly. Both to find out if she is magical and to find out what type of magic she wields. If she isn’t going to practice magic, I don’t really see the point.”

“Why won't she practice magic?” Emma asks.

“I’m not saying she can’t in the future. But right now, Faith can’t even talk or take care of herself. Is magic a good idea for someone that can’t communicate their needs?”

“She might be able to use magic to communicate, though,” Emma points out and Regina nods. It is a valid point, even though the thought of her daughter practicing magic scares her beyond belief.

She knows that part of her hesitation is her own experience with magic. Her mother’s abuse of the practice has cemented it as a curse in her mind, and Rumple teaching it to her so that he can wield her as a weapon solidified it as something to be avoided at all costs.

“You once convinced my parents that getting rid of my magic would be a tragedy. That it would take away what was special about me.”

“I was wrong,” Regina insists. “It’s your heart that makes you special Emma, not your magic. Your magic is a tool. It’s not who you are.”

Though her heart melts a bit at Regina’s statement, she is not convinced she is right. Magic _is_ a part of who she is, as much a part of her as her love for her family and her identity as the Savior. She understands Regina’s hesitation, but she feels it necessary to make one final point.

“I know that you didn’t have the greatest introduction to magic, babe. You once told me that Rumple was a bully when he taught you and I suspect he hurt you pretty badly when he taught you, right?”

Regina nods, but does not elaborate on her experience. Emma waits a bit for a response, then continues once she realizes that one will not be forthcoming. “Whatever your past with magic is, babe, even you have to admit that you ended up using it to accomplish some amazing things. You’re right, magic is a tool. And I think that it is a tool that can help Faith, if you and I are the ones that teach her.”

Dr. Whale comes in then, before Regina can respond, but Emma can see the thoughtfulness in her eyes. She knows she has planted a seed for her girlfriend to consider and lets the subject drop for the night, turning her attention instead to the x-rays that Dr. Whale hangs up for them to see.

Regina’s wrist is broken in 2 places, but the fractures are clean straight through. Dr. Whale explains that she will likely not need surgery to re-break the bones. She will be fine after 8 weeks in a cast and some physical therapy.

“You need to rest it as much as possible,” he cautions her. “Don’t try to use it the first couple of weeks. I’m prescribing some painkillers for you to take home with you. Someone will be in shortly to put the cast on.” Regina nods and thanks him politely.

“You’re welcome Mada-Regina,” he hastily corrects himself. “Take care of yourself.”

\-------------------------------------------------

They get home very late and end up sleeping in the next morning. It is clear that Regina’s carefully crafted schedule is not going to work that day.

“Are you able to be flexible, babe?” Emma asks her as she watches Regina get dressed.

Regina raises an eyebrow at that. “I think you will find that I can be _very_ flexible,” she teases, and Emma laughs at her.

“Ok, that is not at all what I meant, but that’s good to know.”

She watches as Regina struggles with the buttons on her blouse before giving up with a sigh. “Do you mind?” she asks.

“Not at all,” Emma says, walking over to her. Her breath catches in her throat, as it always does when she is that close to Regina. Regina closes her eyes when the blonde’s fingers brush her stomach as she buttons the shirt. Damn that feels good. She shakes her head to bring herself back to reality.

“What did you mean?”

“Huh?” Emma looks up confused. She knows they were in middle of a conversation, but right now she is lost in the scent of Regina’s perfume and the sight of her black lace bra under her shirt, and she has no idea what they were talking about.

“Flexible?” Regina reminds her. “What did you mean?”

“Oh. I was going to suggest a walk. It’s a nice day and Faith seems to enjoy being outdoors.”

Regina considers this for a moment. She has spent years crafting this routine for Faith. In the past, deviating from it has always led to disaster. But now, the thought of spending time with Faith and Emma that is not completely controlled by a schedule seems a little appealing. Even if it is for something as simple as a walk.

“Ok. But we should probably keep it short.”

It is a beautiful day and Faith seems completely content walking ahead of them. They keep the pace slow, allowing Faith to set the tempo of their steps. She is looking around her surroundings with interest and with a pang of guilt Regina realizes that Storybrooke has been Faith’s home for 4 years, but she is still so unfamiliar with it. She vows silently to do better.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the fact that Faith has completely stopped walking and is staring at the sky. She glances up and to her surprise, sees Maleficent flying overhead in dragon form. She and Emma glance at each other, then at Faith, as they hold their breath. Regina did not anticipate this development, but it appears her daughter is about to get her first real experience with magic.

To her surprise, Faith does not appear frightened or even concerned. Her body is completely still, and her eyes are wide with wonder as she stares at the creature in the sky. Her rounded eyes follow the dragons’ movement in the clouds and Regina is unsure how many minutes pass or if Maleficent is even aware of their presence on the ground.

“That’s a dragon, baby.” Her daughter does not turn to her or even pull her gaze from the sky, but Regina knows she is listening. “Her name is Maleficent.”

An idea enters her head as she watches Faith’s fascination. She has no idea if it is a good one, but something tells her to try it anyway. “Would you like to meet her?” she asks softly. She can feel Emma’s surprise, but her eyes are trained on her daughter, who has finally looked in her direction. The joy on her face is unmistakable.

Knowing Mal can hear them with her enhanced dragon senses, she continues. “Maybe she will come down and introduce herself to you.” As if on cue, the dragon flies down and gracefully lands a safe and respectful distance from them.

Her hand reaches blindly for Emma’s as she watches her daughter’s reaction to the dragon. Emma squeezes back as they watch Faith approach the beast slowly, but with no fear whatsoever. Mal lowers her head in greeting and to Regina’s shock, Faith reaches her hand up and touches the dragon’s head.

She can feel the tears in her eyes as she watches the scene unfold. Both Faith and Maleficent are completely still and silent, but something tells Regina that they are talking to each other in a way only they can understand. She glances over at Emma and from the joy and wonder on her face suspects that the blonde sees the connection too.

“You don’t think she will transform in front of her, do you?” asks Emma in worry.

“Mal wouldn’t do that,” she assures her.

Sure enough, the dragon takes back to the sky and disappears from sight moments later. They continue to walk, and Regina is completely unsurprised to see Maleficent, now in human form, waiting for them a couple of blocks later.

“Faith, this is my friend,” her voice trails off as she realizes that she just used Maleficent’s name to introduce the dragon. “Mal,” she improvises, and Mal chuckles softly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Faith,” she says. Just as she did in dragon form, she stays perfectly still and awaits Faith’s response to her. The girl does not approach her, but she does not appear afraid in any way either.

“May I invite the three of you to Granny’s diner for coffee?” Maleficent asks. Emma and Regina glance at each other. The walk has gone well so far, but there is only so far they will be able to push it.

“I really need to speak with you, Regina.” Mal is not normally the insistent type, so at her words, Regina makes a decision.

“Why don’t you come back to the mansion for coffee instead?” she offers and Maleficent agrees.

\-------------------------------------------

“Your daughter has magic,” Maleficent says once the three of them are settled at the table. Faith has gone upstairs with her tablet and a pair of headphones. Schoolwork is likely off the table for the day.

“We thought she might,” Regina agrees.

“There is no ‘might’ here, Regina. Your daughter definitely has magic.” Mal sounds one hundred percent certain about her statement.

“How do you know?” asks Emma. She has been uncharacteristically quiet since they ran into the dragon on their walk, but she speaks up now.

“I felt it while I was in dragon form. Her energy reached out to the dragon in me when she touched me.” Maleficent puts her mug down and stands up. She is walking around the kitchen restlessly, a state so unlike her that it takes Regina by surprise.

“What exactly does that mean?”

“I’m not certain,” Mal admits. “I’ve never felt anything quite like it before. She has so much power in her touch, it felt like she could control me if she wanted to.” She is still pacing around the kitchen, as though she cannot possibly stand still, but the movement seems to relax her, so Regina chooses to ignore it.

“I haven’t felt any magical energy from her.” The reality of that statement is puzzling to Emma and Regina, but Maleficent seems unsurprised.

“The signal was much weaker when I was in human form. Still there, but very faint. Whatever power she possesses, it is tied to a connection with animals. Has she ever had a pet or spent time around animals?”

“No,” Regina says slowly. Emma is listening to the conversation with interest and she speaks up again.

“Like Cruella?” she asks. “Could she be-?” The horror of that statement is cut off by Maleficent shaking her head firmly.

“Definitely not. Cruella was not born with magic, so she would not have been able to pass it on to any children she might have had. And I am fairly certain she did not have any, anyway.”

Regina lets out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. She loves her daughter with all her heart, but learning she was the offspring of Cruella Deville would have been an adjustment she is not sure she has any idea how to make.

“Regina.” She vaguely feels Emma’s hand on her shoulder, but she shakes it off. This conversation is becoming too much for her. The idea of Faith having magic, of being from a magical realm is overwhelming. What if she is the child of an old enemy? What if it is fate playing tricks with her again like when she adopted the Savior’s son? What if her daughter’s powers make her a target or put her in danger? What if they make her a danger to others?

The possibility of someone from the Enchanted Forest showing up one day and demanding their child back is scarier than anything she can comprehend. Yes, it worked out last time. She loves Emma and the little family they somehow managed to forge. But that doesn’t mean it was easy in any way and she doesn’t think she can survive it a second time. With a strangled cry, she slams her coffee mug down on the table and leaves the room.

“Where is she going, do you think?” Mal asks. Emma shrugs in response.

“If I had to guess, she went upstairs to be with Faith. We need to give her some space right now.” She doesn’t know how she knows this, but she is certain that Regina needs to be alone with her child right now. Later, she will remind her that she is not alone, but right now Emma’s place is down here.

“She’s lucky to have you,” Mal says quietly. She is sitting at the table again, her restlessness gone.

Emma flashes a smile at that. She knows that there is more to Maleficent and Regina’s past than either one has shared with her, but right now she and Mal are on the same side. And somehow, she knows that the dragon will be a powerful ally in protecting Regina and Faith from whatever is to come.

“She is not the only lucky one,” Mal continues.

“I know I am,” Emma agrees, but Maleficent laughs at her.

“I meant Faith,” she clarifies. “It seems pretty obvious now that she was born in the Enchanted Forest and trust me when I tell you that she is far better off here.”

“It sounds like you are speaking with some experience,” Emma says. Mal’s eyes cloud over a bit when she responds.

“I wasn’t always like this, Savior. I was once a child too, you know.”

“I know,” Emma is quick to say, but she has to admit that the thought of the powerful sorceress as a child is not something she has ever considered before.

“I was a child that turned into a dragon in a village where dragons were spoken of only in hushed voices and hunted when they appeared. The Enchanted Forest is not a kind place to people that are different.”

Emma wonders briefly if reaching for Maleficent’s arm would be completely inappropriate. Before she can decide though, Mal stops speaking and stands up to place her mug in the sink, turning her back on the Savior altogether. The conversation is clearly over.

“Tell Regina I said good-bye,” she says. Emma nods and the dragon leaves.

After her departure, Emma goes to find her lover. She checks Faith’s room first and finds the girl asleep, a book next to her head. _The Reluctant Dragon,_ she notes with a chuckle.

It is then that she hears the muffled crying coming from Regina’s room. She goes to join her and finds Regina sitting on the bed, sobbing softly into her hands. She moves her hands from her face and gently encourages Regina to allow her to put her arms around her. Regina permits it but remains rigid in her arms. Emma holds her, rubbing her shoulders until she begins to relax.

“I’m scared,” Regina whispers.

“I know.”

“What’s coming, Emma? How will I protect her?”

Emma moves her arms from around Regina’s shoulders, opting to take her hold her good hand instead. This can be a defining moment in their relationship, she knows. Right now, Regina is terrified of forces she cannot see or name and in true Regina fashion, she came upstairs to deal with her fear by herself. It doesn’t matter that Emma doesn’t really think Faith is in any danger. What matters right now is that Regina is haunted by possibilities she is not ready to talk about.

“ _We_ will protect her. Together,” she says firmly.

For a moment, it does not appear that Regina has heard her, but it doesn’t matter. She is prepared to say it as many times as is necessary for Regina to believe it.

“Together,” she says again, and this time Regina looks up at her.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispers, squirming as though she hates herself for saying this.

Emma leans forward, still holding Regina’s hand, and kisses her.

“Never,” she vows.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina faces some very real life implications of her new discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faith's magical background and abilities will be explored, but only enough to keep the fantasy element of Storybrooke alive. For the most part, I want this story to remain as true to real life as possible.

The only thing Regina wants now is a return to normalcy. She feels shaken to her core by the discovery of Faith’s power and the slightest change in her routine makes her jumpy. The only thing that eases her nerves is her tightly managed schedule.

Emma watches her struggle and wishes with all her heart that she could get to the source of Regina’s anxiety. Gone is the woman that fearlessly stared down wicked witches and dark curses. In her place is a someone who barely lets her daughter out of her sight and spends hours in front of a computer screen that she does not allow Emma to see.

At first, she hopes this is an adjustment period and that once Regina has a chance to get used to the new reality, she will be ok. But as the weeks pass with no sign of improvement, her worry begins to grow.

She attempts to address it one night as they lie in bed. The brunette dodges her questions with a kiss and before Emma knows what is happening, they are making love. She is grateful that this part of their life still seems to be on track, but she can’t quite shake the feeling that Regina just used sex as a way to keep her shut out from what is really going on.

The next day, Emma has just fixed Faith her afternoon snack when she goes to find Regina in her home office. Regina instantly slams her computer shut when she enters and for the first time Emma feels her temper rise.

“What the hell, Regina?”

Regina has the decency to look guilty. “Sorry. I’m sorry. You just startled me.”

The idea that Emma tromping around in her work boots can startle anyone, let alone a witch of Regina’s caliber, is laughable at best. She takes a deep breath and leads Regina to the sofa in her office.

“We need to talk about this, Regina.”

She fully expects Regina to argue with her, but to her surprise Regina nods.

“I know,” she says quietly. Emma takes her in her arms and kisses her.

“I love you.”

“I know,” Regina says again. "I love you, too. "She returns the kiss, but it is obvious she is distracted.

“Talk to me.”

Regina doesn’t respond, just stands up and opens the computer again. She motions for the blonde to join her and pulls up the document she has been working on. At first Emma thinks the spreadsheet she is staring at is the town budget and that Regina had taken the comptroller job without telling her. It is only after a few minutes of studying the figures in front of her that she realizes it is a personal financial management program. She turns to look at Regina, who is waiting patiently for her to speak.

“Regina, are you having money problems?” The idea seems ridiculous, although perhaps it shouldn’t. Regina hasn’t worked over a year and even when she had, it is not as though the Mayor of a small town makes a lot of money. She has never thought about Regina's finances before, she has always assumed that the curse set her up with enough money that it wasn’t an issue. 

“If you need money,” she begins hesitantly. Regina interrupts her abruptly.

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I love you for offering, but this isn’t a problem you can help me with.” She can see that Emma wants to argue and she wonders how on earth to explain this to her.

“Emma, how old are you?”

Emma blinks to hide her surprise at the sudden shift in conversation.

“I’m 39. 40 next month.” she replies.

Regina nods and stands up. “I’m 70,” she says softly, turning her back to Emma so she doesn’t have to look at her face when she says it. There is no reply, and she can almost hear Emma doing calculations in her head.

“I was 30 when I cast the curse. Forgetting for a moment about time being frozen and all the weirdness of time travel that we’ve been through, I have been alive for 70 years.”

“Well, you look my age,” Emma insists. Regina turns around and plants a soft kiss on her lips.

“You’re sweet,” she says. “But this isn’t about vanity. I’m well aware that I don’t look my age. Your mother is 8 years younger than me, but she looks far older. Did you ever think about that?”

Emma had to admit that she hadn’t, but Regina is right. The longer they live in Storybrooke, the more apparent it becomes that she and Regina appear to stay the same age and her parents are aging. For the first time, she and Snow can almost pass for mother and daughter.

“I don’t understand what that has to do with money,” she says finally.

“Storybrooke is magic. It responds to magical beings in strange ways. You and I have magic and living in Storybrooke has slowed our aging process significantly.” She stops to make sure that Emma is following her logic and Emma nods. This makes sense.

“I am 70, but assuming I remain in Storybrooke, I can easily live another 80 or 90 years.”

Emma gives her arm a reassuring squeeze, encouraging her to continue, but Regina shakes her head.

“I can’t tell you this,” she says.

“Tell me what? Regina, what is going on?”

“You’re going to think I am awful,” she whispers. 

“Yeah, I doubt that. Just tell me so we can fix it.”

Regina presses her hands together nervously. “When I adopted Faith…” her voice trails off and Emma’s eyes widen in understanding.

“You thought you would outlive her,” she says quietly.

Regina buries her head in her hands. “I know it’s terrible,” she cries. “What kind of mother wants her child to die before her?”

Emma strokes her back gently, waiting for her to calm down. She hates the way Regina is turned away from her, refusing to make eye contact, but she doesn’t know how to reach her.

“I’m the worst mother in the world,” Regina whispers.

There is no way to convince her that isn’t true, so Emma just continues to stroke her back. At last Regina calms enough to speak.

“For the past 4 years, I thought that the biggest challenge facing me would be caring for Faith in her old age. Facing life without her once she is gone. Now I know she is magical and will live far longer than I will. Suddenly I have to think about selecting a guardian that will be around long enough to take care of her.” Her breath is coming out in short gasps now and Emma takes her hand and squeezes it.

Regina suddenly realizes that her body is shaking, but she doesn’t stop talking. It is as though her mind exists outside of her body and she is watching herself lose any ability to control her mouth or body.

“I have to worry about full time care. _Decades_ of it. I have to worry about her powers and if she is safe. If anyone is going to come after her and take advantage of her. I have to worry about money now, Emma! I have never done that before. I don’t even know how to do it!” The words are pouring out of her mouth and it occurs to her that her vision is going blurry and her hands are trembling. Her eyes grow wide as her stomach lurches inside of her.

“What’s happening to me?” she chokes out.

“You’re having a panic attack,” Emma says matter of factly. She leads Regina back over to the couch and gently guides her to lower her head between her knees. She continues to rub her back and makes sure her voice is calm and firm as she speaks.

“Focus on my voice, Regina.” There is no answer, but Emma is sure she can hear her. She slows her own breathing so that Regina has a rhythm to imitate and counts slowly to 20. When she is done, she counts back down to 1. Regina’s breathing begins to even out and by the time she is done counting Regina has lifted her head and is mouthing the words with her.

For a few moments, there is silence as Regina regains her bearings. Then she sits up straight and moves away from Emma’s touch.

“You ok now?”

Regina nods. “Yes,” she says quietly. “Thank you.”

Emma flashes her a smile and stands up. “I’m going to check on Faith and get you a glass of water. Are you going to be ok on your own?” Her questioning gaze is met with an eye roll.

“I’m _fine_ , Emma. Go check on Faith.”

She pretends to be irritated by the attitude but is secretly happy to see a bit of Regina's familiar spirit return. “I’ll be right back,” she says. When she returns, Regina is seated in front of the computer again and she shakes her head in exasperation at the sight.

“I have to do this,” Regina insists.

“You’re going to be around for another century,” Emma reminds her. “The computer will still be there tomorrow, I promise.”

She rolls her eyes again but shuts down the computer. “What am I going to do with you?” she asks.

“Roll me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians?” Emma suggests.

There is a moment of silence, then Regina splutters in shock. “ _Excuse_ me?” she says. The look on her face is priceless, but she recovers quickly.

“I don’t hate the idea of rolling you in chocolate.”

“Me either.”

“But I don’t think I will be throwing you to anyone.”

Emma kisses her soundly. “Good.” She turns to leave the room, but it is her turn to splutter when Regina smacks her ass. She whirls back around to see the infamous Mills smirk that she used to see in her dreams for so many years.

“Seriously? Your daughter is here.”

“She’s watching TV,” Regina says, smirking again.

“Regina….”

“Ok, ok. Spend the night?” she asks.

“Of course. And Regina?”

Regina puts her glass of water down and prepares to leave the room with her. “Yes?”

“You know how you said that I am 30 years younger than you?”

She laughs a little, but still looks less than thrilled at the reminder. “Do we need to talk about that?”

“Not after tonight, no. I just wanted you to know that I’ll be here.”

Later, when Regina thinks of this moment, it will occur to her that it is strange how the clock can keep ticking and the world can keep moving when everything important to her appears to be standing completely still. Right now, however, she cannot speak or even breathe. Emma takes her silence for confusion and clarifies.

“After you’re…..well. You know. She won’t be alone.”

She turns and walks out of the room, leaving Regina to wonder what on earth she had done in her life to make her worthy of being loved by Emma Swan.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma arranges a family outing. Regina's feelings begin to overwhelm her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ends at kind of an awkward spot, but that is because it was getting a bit long and I decided to split the scene into two chapters.

As predicted, Regina begins to relax once things settle back into a normal routine. Her days are spent homeschooling Faith and remotely helping Kathryn with the odd project from her home office. Most days Emma comes over after work so they can all spend the evening together and Regina has the joy of watching the bond between her girlfriend and her daughter grow.

Emma does not seem to need words to communicate with Faith. While Regina sometimes struggles with Faith’s lack of speech and depends heavily on their songs to communicate, Emma and Faith seem to understand each other in a way that Regina can only dream of.

Emma stays the night more often than not and when she is unable to, Regina always wakes up to a text that says “Good Morning Beautiful” a few minutes before Emma arrives to join them for coffee and breakfast before going to work. All in all, things are going remarkably well.

Perhaps too well. At least, that is the thought that Regina has on the day that it all changes

\------------------------------------------------------------

“What are you doing here?”

Emma hangs up her jacket and leans in for a quick kiss. “Not happy to see me?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I meant,” Regina replies rolling her eyes.

“It was too quiet in the office. I decided to take the afternoon off. Don’t tell Kathryn.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Come into the kitchen and I’ll make some coffee.”

“Actually, I have an idea.” She sounds nervous and Regina feels something in the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she knows just what Emma will suggest.

“Emma,” she says warningly.

“Just hear me out, ok? I spoke to Granny. She says early afternoon after the lunch rush is her quietest time of day. I asked her how she felt about us bringing Faith there for a little while and she was totally up for it.”

“You did what?” Despite trying to stay calm, she can hear her voice rise and Emma winces but does not give up.

“Look, Regina. Your friends, your family, they all miss you. You need to start going out again and you don’t need to do it alone. I’ll come with you guys.”

“Emma, I understand you are trying to help, but this is a bad idea, ok? Just trust me.”

“Do you realize that is almost word for word what you said a few weeks ago when I convinced you to go out by yourself for a little while? It worked out that time, didn’t it? It’s just a quick cup of coffee at Granny’s and then we will come back, ok?”

She feels her resolve weakening and Emma must be able to sense it, because she plays her trump card. “It isn’t fair to Faith to keep her locked up here at home, Regina. Give this a chance.”

“Ok.”

“Yeah?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes Emma. Ok. I’ll go upstairs and tell her.”

\------------------------------------------------------------

Granny brings the coffee over to the table and Regina can feel her shoulders relax a bit. Faith is drinking a hot cocoa, blowing into the whipped cream and giggling as the foam splashes back into her face. She is wearing noise cancelling headphones and has her tablet with her. She seems perfectly content. She even smiles when Granny greets her, although she does not make eye contact.

A sudden squeeze of her hand brings her out of observing her daughter. She looks up to see Emma smiling at her from across the table.

 _‘Relax_ ,’ her eyes seem to say, and she wills some more of the tension from her shoulders. She did not want to come, had only agreed to it to make her girlfriend happy, but now that they are here she has to admit that she is enjoying some time away from the mansion.

The door to the diner opens and involuntarily some of the tension returns. It is Snow and Charming and they are making a beeline for their table. She glances across the table at Emma who shrugs as if to indicate that she did not know they would be there.

Snow and Charming have met Faith, of course. They are aware of her disabilities, but Regina has not found a way to comfortably socialize with anyone since the adoption and so they do not know her very well. She smiles at them as she indicates with her arm that they are welcome to sit down.

The Charmings greet Faith and pay no attention to the fact that she does not respond. Snow seems genuinely happy to see Regina and though she is starting to feel that perhaps they have been out too long, she has to admit that she has missed her friend. They begin to talk, and Regina soon finds herself laughing at an anecdote that Snow is telling.

The overhead bell rings again as the door opens and this time it is Belle that walks through. A few moments later, her husband follows with their young son. In short succession, 3 more patrons enter and the quiet in the diner is replaced by a steady din.

Regina exchanges a quick glance with Emma, wondering if it is time to go home. She is about to politely excuse them when she catches a glimpse of Snow’s face. Her friend still looks thrilled that she is there and at the same time disappointed at the realization that they are about to go. She looks over at her daughter who is still engaged in her tablet, not paying attention to anything going on around her. Quickly, she makes the decision to stay a bit longer.

The next series of events happens so quickly that later Regina isn’t really sure what exactly occurred. Belle brings Gideon over to their table to say hello just as Granny returns with the next round of drinks. Snow stands up to excuse herself to the restroom and everything happens all at once.

“Can I see that?” 8-year-old Gideon asks, nodding towards the tablet. Without waiting for an answer, he reaches to take it from her, causing her headphones to fall off of her ears. Faith lets out a high-pitched shriek, startling Granny who stumbles and crashes into Snow.

Horrified, Regina watches as her daughter picks up a coffee mug and hurls it across the room. She quickly tries to hand her back her headphones, but Faith is too far gone. She grabs another mug and when Regina goes to try to take it from her before she can throw it, Faith bites her hard on her injured arm, causing her to wince in pain. She jumps back with a hiss and Faith throws the mug, narrowly missing Rumple who is watching the scene silently.

“Young lady!” Granny says sternly. Regina is certain she means well, but it is absolutely the wrong approach and Faith begins screaming at the top of her lungs as she sweeps her hand across the table, causing all the dishes and cups to go crashing to the floor.

Emma goes to try and calm her down, but Regina can see the need to slam her head against something rising in her daughter and without thinking about it, jumps in front of her girlfriend to try and prevent it. Her injury has her off balance, however, and instead of being able to grab her in a bear hug, she ends up just grabbing her daughter’s arm. Faith’s head comes crashing into her shoulder, causing her fall backwards.

She sees Emma glance down at her phone briefly, then raise her arm to perform a teleportation spell. The three of them find themselves outside of the diner, causing Regina to wonder why Emma didn’t just transport them back to the mansion. The answer comes in the form of Maleficent, in dragon form, landing in front of them.

It is an almost exact repeat of the last time the two came face to face. Maleficent remains perfectly still and Faith calms almost instantaneously as she approaches the dragon and touches her head. The two stay there, in that position, for what seems like an eternity. At last Maleficent takes back to the sky and flies away.

The three of them walk home. When they get there, Faith goes up to her room immediately. She does not stop at the foot of the stairs this time and Regina knows that means she does not want her to accompany her.

Her phone lights up with a text from Maleficent. Actually, there are two. The first simply says “Bring her outside”. It confuses her for a moment until she sees that it was sent while they were still at the diner. She realizes that Mal must have sent the same text to Emma when Regina did not respond and that is why she teleported them to the sidewalk in front of the diner.

The second text reads “Your daughter wants you to know that she is sorry.” She reads it over and over again, trying to understand the implications of it. Is Faith actually speaking to the dragon or is Mal using her animal intuition to discern what Faith is thinking? Can the two of them really talk to each other using some form of telepathy? What exactly is her daughter’s magical power?

All of those thoughts pale in comparison to the content of the message itself, though. “Your daughter wants you to know that she is sorry.”

Faith is sorry. She feels bad. She feels regret. Her heart breaks for her child who is trying to reach out to her in whatever form she can. Guilt rises in her when she thinks back to the moment when she instinctively knew it was time to go and she ignored it in favor of spending more time with her friends.

She looks over at the staircase wondering if she should go upstairs. Maleficent’s text confirms the long held suspicion that her daughter can identify and name what she is feeling, she is just unable to express it in words. Her heart squeezes when she thinks of how frustrating that must be and all she wants to do is go upstairs, gather Faith in her arms and tell her that it is ok, that she is not angry with her and that she is so, so sorry for not understanding what she needs. The overwhelming need to be with her child is overpowered only by the knowledge that Faith has made it clear, in her own way, that she wants to be alone.

She pushes the guilt and regret down to be dealt with when she is able to. This frees her up to feel the other emotion that has been lurking underneath.

Yep. There it was.

Anger.

She goes into the kitchen where Emma is waiting. “Regina,” Emma begins, but she cuts her off.

“Not now,” she says curtly as she begins to unload the dishwasher. Emma nods and they remain in tense silence for a while.

Emma tries again. “Regina, just hear me out,” she says. Regina whirls around, murder in her eyes. She looks ready to pounce, but she does not say anything, leading Emma to believe it is safe for her speak.

“Regina, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-“

“No, you shouldn’t have!” Regina snarls and Emma winces. “I knew it was a bad idea, Emma! I _told_ you and you guilted me into doing it anyway.”

“I was just trying to help,” Emma whispers.

“Were you?” A short angry laugh escapes Regina before she can choke it down. “Because it seems to me that you were tired of being cooped up in this house all the time and you wanted me to be ok with going out so that you can go without feeling bad about it.”

Emma’s eyes flash. “That’s not fair, Regina. I have never suggested anything that I didn’t genuinely believe was in Faith’s best interest. In _your_ best interest.”

Deep down, she knows that this is true, but it doesn’t matter. The guilt, the embarrassment at the public scene, the jealousy at Maleficent’s ability to talk to Faith, the impotence of not being able to help her child, all swirl inside of her with no where to go except out of her mouth at the one target that is available to her.

“You don’t get to decide what is in Faith’s best interest! That is _my_ job. I am her mother, Emma! Me. Not you! You don’t get to waltz in here after 4 years and think you know what is best for everyone.”

Emma’s head drops at that and for a moment, Regina wishes she could take it all back. She is in too deep now, though, and she has to see it through.

“I think I should go.” Emma’s voice is barely above a whisper and Regina pushes yet another wave of guilt down behind her anger.

“Of course you do. If that isn’t vintage Emma Swan, running when the going gets tough, I don’t know what is.” Even as the words come out of her mouth, she knows she has gone to far. She opens her mouth to apologize, but Emma cuts her off. And now she looks _pissed._

“Ok, you know what? That’s about all of this that I am going to take. I love Faith, Regina, and I love _you_ , but that doesn’t mean I am going to stand here and be your punching bag. You don’t get to treat me like this.” 

She does not respond to this because she knows Emma is right. She watches as her girlfriend storms towards the door, the words she knows she needs to say to get her to stay churning in her stomach, refusing to come out of her mouth.

_Don’t go, Emma. Please, stay with me. I’m sorry._

She knows if she says even one of those sentences, Emma will turn around and hold her while she releases all of the bad feelings inside of her. She desperately wants to, but something is blocking, so she just watches silently as Emma opens the door. It is only once Emma is gone that the block lifts and she is able to cry as though her heart were breaking inside of her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of this incident will be posted tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Emma talk through their disagreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised this two days ago. Sorry, this took more re-writing than I anticipated.
> 
> Heavily implied references to past Dragon Queen in this chapter. But this chapter, and the story as a whole, are entirely Swan Queen.

The next morning, there is no text from Emma. She pushes down how lonely that makes her feel and goes about her day.

The day after that, there is again no word. Nor the next. She isn’t sure if Emma is waiting for her to make the first move, or if she just needs more time, but it doesn’t really matter. When a 4th day passes with no word from her lover, she cannot take it anymore.

On day 5, she is ready to call Emma, but knows that the conversation brewing between needs to happen in person. She considers asking Emma to come over but is wary of having it out with her while Faith is present. After considering her options, she does something she would never have been able to do a few months ago.

She calls for help.

Maleficent arrives armed with books about dragons and a treasure trove of drawings and scrolls she has collected in the Enchanted Forest about the species. Regina is nervous about leaving them, she likely always will be, but she is certain Maleficent can handle it.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” she says.

Maleficent does not reply, just sets her haul on the table. “Do you think it’s too much?” She nods at the pile of items on the table.

“Not at all. Trust me, when Faith likes something, she _really_ likes it. She has chosen to read _The Reluctant Dragon_ every night this week at bedtime.”

Maleficent flashes a smile at that. “I gave Lily a copy of that book before she left Storybrooke,” she confesses. “I know it’s a children’s book, but it is such a wonderful story.”

“Faith and I are both enjoying it immensely.”

The two of them sit on the table, listening to Faith sing as she works on her math problems.

_Thank you for being a friend_

_Travel down the road and back again_

The familiar song brings a smile to both their faces, but Regina cannot help but feel her nerves rise as she prepares to go. Her worry must be apparent on her face, because Mal suddenly stands up and pours her a quick drink of whiskey. Regina blinks in surprise.

“Liquid courage,” the dragon tells her, handing her the tumbler. She accepts it with a quick shrug.

“I’m not much of a day drinker normally, but what the hell.” She downs the drink in a single shot, causing a familiar smirk to cross Mal’s face.

“There’s the queen I remember.”

Regina stares down into the empty glass. She knows Maleficent is teasing her, that is just how their relationship works, but it fills her with melancholy anyway. The dragon is right. She did avoid many of problems with alcohol in the past, until it stopped being able to numb her pain. In retrospect, she probably should have should have stuck with booze, because once she had stopped drinking, she had allowed the rage she felt to consume her instead. As it turns out, a thirst for alcohol is relatively easy to quench in comparison to a thirst for vengeance.

She pulls herself from her thoughts with a sharp shake of her head. This is not the time to wallow in regret for mistakes she made so long ago. She needs to be focusing on the mistakes she is making in the present instead. And the longer she stands here postponing what she knows will be a difficult conversation, the more impossible it will feel to leave the house.

A hand on her wrist distracts her and when she looks up, Maleficent is gazing at her with concern in her. “If it helps, I saw the Savior yesterday at the store,” she says.

Regina would love to be able to disguise the fact that she has apparently decided to transform into a high school girl at the words, but pride isn’t a luxury she can afford right now. “How did she look?”

The dragon stifles a chuckle. “Miserable,” she says. “Thoroughly and completely miserable.”

It is a testament to her personal growth, and truly a surprise to herself, that she feels no satisfaction at the knowledge. Instead, the regret inside her grows and fuels her determination to straighten this out immediately.

“I won’t be long,” she promises, but Mal just shakes her head.

“Take your time. I truly enjoy your daughter’s company.”

The words fill her with some mixed emotions, and Regina knows she will have to deal with her feelings of jealousy towards both Maleficent and Emma eventually. Right now, however, she chooses to focus on the part of her that is genuinely happy that people in her town are learning how incredible her daughter is.

“You’re wonderful with her,” she says sincerely, watching as Mal beams.

“You know, I have lived in Storybrooke for years and with the exception of Lily, I have not found anyone to talk to about dragon life. It’s a rich culture with a lot of history, but no one really has any interest in learning about it. I enjoy having someone to share it with.”

The loneliness in her voice is evident and not for the first time, Regina wonders what it must be like to be Maleficent, who lost everything and managed to come back without anyone’s help. People love to laud her own redemption, but Regina knows it only happened because her friends and family stuck by her and gave her more chances than anyone has a right to expect.

“I’m so sorry, Mal.”

The surprise is evident on Maleficent’s face. “I’ve already told you that I forgive you.”

“I know that. I meant that I am sorry that I haven’t reached out to you before now.” She means it, too. The dragon was once so important to her, they had meant so much to each other. And though the passion she once felt for Maleficent is long gone, the fondness she feels for her is still there.

Maleficent shrugs. “You’re a busy woman,” she points out.

“Not too busy for my friends. And I want to learn all about dragon culture.”

“You’re not just saying that because you feel bad for me?”

“No.” She shakes her head emphatically. “I mean it, Mal. I want to be a better friend to you and that means learning all about you.”

The smile that blooms on Mal’s face warms her. “I would love to teach you. But right now, there is a sheriff who is missing you terribly and you need to go to her.”

The butterflies return as she replays the argument over in her mind for the millionth time since it took place.

“This is a new look for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nervous,” Maleficent clarifies with a laugh. “You’re nervous.”

“I don’t think that is entirely accurate,” she argues, but her voice is anything but convincing.

“No need to get defensive, dear. I think it is a beautiful side of you.”

Knowing it is a waste of time to try and fight the blush, she turns away instead, causing Maleficent to chuckle again. “Even back in the old days, you were never nervous. The Savior must be very important to you.”

She doesn’t it deny it. “She’s everything,” she says instead, surprising herself with her own honesty.

“Then what on earth are you still doing here? Go find her and work this out.”

Regina smiles briefly and with a quick explanation to Faith that she will be back as soon as she can, she leaves.

\--------------------------------------

The door to Emma’s house opens as soon as she knocks, as though Emma had seen her approach and was just waiting to greet her. Butterflies aside, the realization that her girlfriend is as nervous as she is helps her feel a bit better.

“I wasn’t sure of the best way to handle this,” Emma admits.

“No? Why is that?”

Emma shrugs casually, as though she is perfectly at ease, but her eyes don’t quite meet Regina’s. “We have a lot of experience arguing, but not much with making up.”

There is so much truth packed into that statement that it takes Regina’s breath away. In the past, when they argued, there had never been enough time to work through their issues before the next crisis hit. It makes her wonder how many hurt feelings have been shoved down deep before they had a chance to even be acknowledged.

“Regina,” Emma begins.

“Can I go first?” she asks.

Emma looks relieved. “Sure,” she says.

She sits down at the table, fingers twisting in anxiety. “Well, first let me say this. I don’t think that you were trying to find a way to escape my home when you suggested going to Granny’s. That wasn’t fair and I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Why did you?”

“I was angry,” she says simply.

Emma nods. “I really do care about Faith,” she says.

“I know that, Emma. I do.” She sighs heavily, hating that her pride is still standing in the way of what really needs to be said here. Knows she has to push past it before it ruins everything.

“I’m sorry, Emma. I was awful to you the other day. I want you to know that I know you didn’t deserve that.”

Emma flashes a tiny smile and for the first time in 5 days, the butterflies begin to slow down.

“What happened, Regina?”

She stares at this woman that she loves so much. This incredible, strong, beautiful woman that showed up when she felt her most alone and pulled back the curtain to allow the sun back into her life.

“I lashed out,” she says quietly. “I felt so helpless, watching Faith struggle in the diner, not knowing how to get through to her, watching Maleficent calm her so easily. I needed someone to blame and you were there.”

Emma sighs. “I shouldn’t have pushed you to bring her. I could see that you didn’t want to.”

“No. Don’t do that. Don’t take the blame.” She reaches for Emma’s hand and to her relief, Emma takes it. “I did this.” She glances up at Emma’s smile. It is so unlike the usual mischievous grin she is used to. If she didn’t know any better, she would say the blonde looks almost tender.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Emma insists. “I’m just not used to this level of honesty from you.”

Her breath comes out in a quick whoosh, making her realize suddenly that she has been holding it for a bit. “That’s because I am not used to giving this level of honesty to anyone. I’m not good at talking about how I feel.”

“I know.”

“But I promise I will try to do better. I don’t want to lose you, Emma.”

Emma’s eyes widen in understanding as the reason for Regina’s nerves become clear to her at last. She squeezes the hand that Regina is holding tightly. “You’re not going to lose me, silly. I’m not going anywhere.”

To her incredible horror, Regina feels tears build up behind her eyes. She swallows hard, trying to force them back as her mind scrambles for an answer.

“Look at me Regina. I’m going to get mad sometimes. I’ll always be willing to listen to what is on your mind, but just because I won’t sit there and let you take your anger out on me doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you. You, Henry, Faith. You all mean everything to me. Don’t you know that?”

The dam bursts and suddenly Regina is crying harder than she has in a long time. Emma gathers her in her arms and lets her release all the fear that has consumed for the last few days. It is so clear to Regina now that what she had been afraid of is that Emma had reached her breaking point. That she would stand in front of her as Robin had and explain that yes, she loves her, but she just can’t do this anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Emma. You deserve so much better than anything I can give you.”

Emma holds her until the tears subside, then pulls back. “Where is this coming from? It was one argument, Regina.” There is no answer and Emma frowns. “Please answer me, Regina. I don’t know how to make you feel better if you don’t”

When the answer comes, it is in a whisper that can almost not be heard. “I don’t deserve you.”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means…” she shakes her head and tries again. “Emma, I told you that I was struggling with the way Maleficent bonds with Faith. What I haven’t told you is that I am having a hard time watching you relate to Faith as well. It’s like you understand her in a way I never will.”

Emma nods. “That can’t be easy,” she tries to acknowledge, but Regina isn’t done.

“I know that the only reason you understand Faith as well as you do is because you grew up the way she did. Being shuttled from place to place, always wanting to belong, but never having a somewhere to call home. You understand her because of what I did to you, causing you to grow up in the system.”

“Listen to me, Regina. I forgave you a long time ago for all of that.”

“I know you did. And I am so grateful to have a partner that understands what my daughter is going through, but then it feels like I am somehow reaping the benefits of what you went through, and it makes me hate myself.”

Emma doesn’t respond to that, just sits there and waits to see if Regina is done talking. When she is sure that her girlfriend is through purging herself, she speaks.,

“I have a few things to say, but they are going to be hard to hear. So, I need you to sit there and listen and don’t interrupt or argue with me until I am done.”

Regina nods her agreement, determined to listen everything Emma has to say.

“I do understand what Faith is going through, but it isn’t because I grew up in the system. It’s because when I got to Storybrooke, I didn’t believe Henry when he talked about the curse. He talked about magic and story books and it all sounded like nonsense to me. I wanted to be his friend, not his mother. It almost cost him his life.”

Regina winces at the reminder but doesn’t speak. “When the curse broke all those years ago, I promised myself that I would never do that again. That if a child tried to tell me something, I would listen. When we got to Neverland and met the Lost Boys, I realized that I could understand them because I really saw them. Not because I saw myself in them, but because I saw our son in them. Children that were crying out for my help. I was able to help them because of that and that is how I am able to understand Faith.”

“I am responsible for that too, Emma. Henry needed your help because of how I treated him. I made everyone believe he was crazy.”

“I get that. Regina, I am not telling you all this to absolve you of the guilt you are feeling. You feel how you feel, and I am not trying to take any of that away from you. I am telling you this so that you know that you don’t have to have grown up in the system to understand Faith. I’m not doing anything you aren’t capable of doing.”

She tries to understand what Emma is saying, but truthfully none of it makes sense to her. She has come a long way from the Evil Queen that torched everything in her path when she was angry, but that doesn’t mean she is ok with the person she is now. Perhaps she never will be.

Emma reaches forward and tucks a strand of Regina’s hair behind her ear. The gesture is tender and loving and it almost makes Regina forget what she is thinking about. When Emma speaks again, her voice has lost all of the eager passion she spoke with earlier when she was trying to convince Regina that she was speaking the truth. Instead, her voice is quiet now, as though she is afraid she will spook Regina into leaving.

“I could list all the reasons that I have forgiven you. I could stand here and remind you of the abuse you suffered as a child, that you were sold into servitude and used as a pawn by people far more powerful than you. I could remind you that Henry grew up safe and warm and healthy and yes, loved, even if he didn’t see it at the time. Just as Faith is now.”

At this point, Emma has no idea if Regina is even listening to her anymore, but she has been waiting a while to say this and she is not about to stop now. She breaks eye contact, trying to respect that Regina may need a moment to gather herself, then continues.

“None of that will make a difference because this isn’t about me forgiving you. It’s about you finding a way to forgive yourself, because not doing so is keeping you from truly connecting with the people you love. I can’t do any of that for you, Regina, but I promise I will not leave you alone to figure it all out for yourself. I’m in this, all the way. Just please don’t push me away again.”

Regina’s breath comes out in a shaky gasp as she tries to process what Emma is saying. She grapples for words, then gives up with a sigh.

“What is it?” Emma asks.

“Why?”

“Why what? Why am in this with you all the way? Because I-“

“Because you love me. I know.” She acknowledges the truth of that with a firm nod. “Why?”

“You need a list, Regina?”

Frustrated, she pushes her chair back and stands up. “I don’t know what I need. You’re saying all these incredible things and it makes me feel-I don’t know how it makes me feel. This isn’t how this is supposed to work!”

“Yeah, I know. You’ve always been better at speaking than me. When you were the Mayor, I used to watch you inspire the town so many times. Made me wonder what kind of force of nature you must have been as a queen.”

She laughs despite herself. “You don’t want to know.”

“I think I do. I think you must have been beautiful to watch.”

The tears were coming again, but this time she bites them back in determination. She is going to find a way to make Emma see how much her words mean, even if the warmth that is growing in her chest and stomach feels so threatening and unfamiliar.

“I’ll be honest, Emma. I have no idea what to say here.”

Emma nods. “That’s ok.”

She continues as though Emma hadn’t spoken. “But just because I can’t find the words doesn’t mean I can’t show you what you mean to me. Let me love you today, Emma.”

Emma’s eyes grow wide as she catches Regina’s meaning. “You want to-“

“Yes. Will you let me take you to bed?”

“Here? Now? What about-“

“Taken care of,” Regina says softly. “Here. Now. Let me put you first.”

Whatever argument Emma is about to pose about it being the middle of the afternoon and that they both have responsibilities is lost when Regina helps her to her feet and kisses her. Swallowing a grin, Regina sweeps her up in her arms and carries her to the bedroom. Her injured wrist is screaming at her, but she barely even notices it.

“Regina!” The squeal that erupts from the blonde when Regina picks her up is nothing short of enchanting. “Damn, you’re crazy strong.”

“When I need to be, yes.” She lowers Emma down gently on the bed. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to lie there and let me love you. Can you do that? Can you stop giving so much of yourself all the time and let me cherish you for a while?”

Emma swallows hard. “I think I can manage that.”

“Good,” Regina says simply. She lowers her mouth to Emma’s and begins to dot kisses on her face, her jaw, her throat. Relishing the way Emma’s eyes have gone dark and wide, she reaches forward to undress her slowly.

Words may be difficult sometimes, but this feels like the most natural thing in the world. She takes a breath, then allows her hands and mouth take over where her brain has failed her.

Touching Emma. Tasting Emma. _Loving_ Emma.

Not a bad way to make her point, after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina discuss her past in the Enchanted Forest. Maleficent offers to investigate Faith's past.

“I suppose I should go home now.”

Emma rolls over and groans. “Do you have to?”

She glances quickly at the clock. “Unfortunately, I do. I’ve been gone for a while now.”

“Who is with Faith?”

Regina sits up and reaches for her clothes. “Maleficent.” She notices a shadow passes over Emma’s face at her answer but does not comment on it. Instead, she changes the subject.

“Do you want to come back home with me?”

“Desperately, but honestly I haven’t gotten any work done in days. I should probably check in at the station.”

The shadow of the sun slipping beneath the horizon catches her attention and she notes how late it is. It was strange that Emma would want to go to the station at this hour, but if the blonde’s last few days were anything like her own, it is entirely feasible that she hasn’t exactly been productive lately. “Fair enough. How about dinner later?”

Emma shakes her head again, eyes already on the door. “I promised my parents that I would come over for dinner tonight.”

Looking up from the shoe that she is in the middle of buckling, she frowns in confusion. “Emma…what’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” she tries to insist, but Regina isn’t buying it.

“You’re blowing me off. I want to know why.”

“Regina, I’m not, I swear. I just…..” her voice trails off and if alarm bells weren’t already ringing loudly in her head, her suspicions would definitely be screaming at her now.

“What’s going on?” She tries to force calm that she does not feel into her voice, not wanting to set off another argument. The problem is that despite knowing how unfair her accusation from a few days earlier is, she isn’t really certain that Emma will not run.

As usual, Emma reads her like a book. “Relax, it’s really nothing. It’s just that I’m not sure how Faith will react to me after what happened. I’m the one that pushed her into going someplace she wasn’t comfortable going.”

The realization of Emma’s insecurities hits her then. “The only way to move past this is to see her.”

“I know. I just….feel like I let her down.”

It is a feeling Regina is all too familiar with and she wants to reassure her, but she also wants to be careful not to speak on behalf of her daughter. It is a mistake she has made far too often. She has made her peace with both Emma and Faith, now it is up to them to work things out with each other.

“I think that the only way to find out if she feels that way is to talk to her about it.”

“Do you think she’ll understand?”

There is no real way for Regina to know the answer to that question, so she sidesteps it instead. “I think that far too much time and energy are spent on trying to figure out what Faith understands, and not nearly enough time is spent talking to her. Give her a chance, Emma.”

“You’re pretty smart, you know that?”

Regina smirks as she stands up, the familiar gesture tugging at Emma’s heartstrings. “I know.”

“I really did promise my parents I would come over for dinner. Maybe I could stop by after? I’m not sure what time it will be, though.”

She considers this for a moment. “Do you think they would mind if Faith and I came along?” She watches Emma’s eyes widen in surprise, though she tries to hide it.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Sure? No, I’m never sure of anything. But despite what happened the other day, you did make a valid point when you said that it’s not fair to Faith to stay home all the time. I think it’s worth a shot, what do you think?”

“I think I’ll call my mom and ask her, but I can’t imagine she’ll mind. In the meantime, I can head back to the mansion with you and talk to Faith before we go.”

“What about checking in with the station?”

“It can wait until morning,” Emma shrugs. “This is more important.”

“Emma,” she puts her hand on her shoulder as Emma reaches for her phone to call Snow. “Before you call, I was wondering if you would mind asking if she would be ok with one other extra person?” Emma pulls her hand back in confusion.

“Who?”

She takes a moment to breathe because she has no idea how this is going to go over. “Maleficent.” Sure enough, Emma’s face turns slightly sour.

“Why would Maleficent want to come to family dinner?” Regina blinks in surprise because of all the things she thought Emma would say, this is not the question she was expecting.

“I think she’s lonely, Emma. She said something to me today that made me realize it. She has no one in this world, except for Lily who doesn’t live here anymore.” She watches for Emma’s reaction, but there really isn’t one, apart from understanding.

“I think she has been lonely for a long time,” Emma says. “Like, since she was a kid.”

The proclamation takes Regina by surprise. Emma is correct, she just doesn’t know how she knows this. “What makes you say that?”

“She said something to me too. About growing up with her powers in the Enchanted Forest. Was it really that bad over there?”

“It was different for everyone,” Regina explains. “Also, even I am not certain of Maleficent’s true age, but I have reason to believe we grew up in completely different time periods.”

“So, there was progress over there?”

“There’s progress everywhere, Emma. That is just how humans work. I will say, however, that progress in the Enchanted Forest was very slow and often came at the expense of a lot of innocent blood.”

She senses Emma’s discomfort, so she is not surprised by the next question. “What exactly was your relationship with Maleficent?”

Regina laughs lightly. “I was wondering when you would finally ask me that.”

“Did the two of you date?”

The sigh escapes her before she can stop it. “I wouldn’t exactly call what happened between the two of us dating, but yes. We were involved.”

“Did you love her?”

“No. Not exactly, anyway.” She chuckles slightly as she remembers the early days of her relationship with Maleficent. The time period is a difficult one for her to remember, but that had been an admittedly bright spot.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I couldn’t love anyone back then. I was too damaged. And Maleficent saw that and tried in her own way to help.” She hesitates, wanting to be honest, but also aware that she needs to tread carefully here. This conversation is likely to bring up several issues, her past with the dragon being only one of them.

“How?”

“She saw how lost I was and distracted me. Sex, alcohol,” she winces slightly in remembrance of the next part. “Drugs.”

“ _Drugs?”_

“In a manner of speaking. There was nothing healthy about my relationship with her, but she did try her best to keep me from getting lost in thoughts of vengeance. It is what ultimately drove us apart.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had gotten her revenge on Stefan and Briar Rose when she cursed Aurora, so naturally I was angry that she tried to warn me off casting the dark curse and wouldn’t give it back to me. I accused her of going soft and fought her to get it back.” She thinks back to the fight, to using Maleficen’t pet against her to prove to herself that love was, in fact, weakness. The way Maleficent had begged her not to cast the curse, warned her it would never make her happy. Rumple had given her the same warning, but from him it was meant to spur her on. He knew how much she loved to prove him wrong. Maleficent had actually tried to stop her.

“It wasn’t until much later that I realized she likely never had any interest in the curse for herself and only traded her sleeping curse for it so that I wouldn’t have to pay the price for casting it. It was a clumsy attempt at protecting me, I think.”

Emma smiles and while it is looks tight, it appears genuine enough. Regina breathes a small sigh of relief. She hasn’t spoken about this time in her life in a long time, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit that Emma’s feelings about her past with Mal have had her worried.

“It sounds like she was important to you.”

Choosing not to comment on that, she continues her narrative instead. “A few months later, your parents stole her egg and I trapped her in dragon form, preventing her from searching for her. She spent 28 years trapped here in Storybrooke before I had you kill her. And well, you know the rest.”

She stands up, ready to go at last. “I think that is enough talking about the past for now, Emma. Ready to leave?”

Emma nods and grabs her jacket. “Are you ok?”

“I won’t lie and say that I like talking about that time in my life, but I understand why you needed to know about my past with her. It’s a natural enough reaction.”

“You know I would never ask you not to be friends with her.”

She flashes a small smile at that. “I know. And I want you to know that if her past with me and with your parents is too much to wrap your head around, I understand. She doesn’t have to come to dinner tonight or even spend with me and Faith when you are around.”

“That’s silly. I mean, I’ll be honest, it’s a little weird for me, but I want to get to know her better.”

“Really?”

“Of course. She’s a big part of your life and I love you. Besides, from what you’re telling me, it sounds like you might have attempted your revenge a lot sooner if you hadn’t met her. For all we know, you would have killed my parents before I was ever even conceived. So, there’s that.”

She shudders slightly at that thought but doesn’t contradict it. It is a possibility that she has entertained herself as well. Deciding they would do well to drop the conversation at this point, she heads towards the door.

\------------------------------------------------

“I appreciate the invitation, but I think I will decline.”

Emma nods in understanding. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to spend time with my parents.”

“No, that’s not it,” Mal says, shaking her head. “I put that behind me years ago.”

Emma’s eyes widen a bit in surprise at that. Regina had told her that Maleficent had decided to leave her past in the past, but she must admit that she was not expecting to the dragon to be so calm at the mention of her parents.

“There are always bigger things to worry about, Savior. In this case, that is Faith.”

Regina’s head snaps up at that. She has been occupying herself with reading an email from Katherine on her phone, but her daughter’s name catches her attention.

“What about Faith?”

Maleficent and Emma exchange a glance, but Regina ignores it. “Did something happen with Faith while I was out?”

“No, nothing,” Maleficent is quick to reassure her. “It’s just that I can’t help but get the sense from her that she wants to know more about her past.”

“I know you two can communicate when you’re in your dragon form. Did she tell you that’s what she wants? Is that why you’re saying this?”

“No! Regina, I wouldn’t have that conversation with her without talking to you first. Besides, even if I wanted to, I don’t think I would be able to.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re not communicating in the way that I think you think we are,” Mal explains. “Not with words, anyway. Dragons have telepathy and a heightened sense of empathy, therefore when I am a dragon, I can sense thoughts and emotions, as long as they are in an intense state. Your daughter feels things very deeply, Regina.”

Regina nods, but Emma looks disturbed. “So, does that mean you can read anyone’s thoughts?”

“Not really. Most people have enough control of their thoughts and emotions that they would be hidden from a dragon’s heightened senses. I probably could read someone’s mind, if I really wanted to channel my powers, but it would be exhausting. Not to mention intrusive.”

“Ok,” Emma says, somewhat relieved.

“Don’t worry, Savior,” Maleficent laughs. “Your secrets are safe from me. Probably not from your werewolf friend, though. Just a friendly warning.”

Regina interrupts their conversation to get back to the matter at hand. “Why do you think Faith wants to find out about her birth family?”

“It’s just intuition. That’s all.”

“I think you’re projecting.”

“Perhaps,” Maleficent agrees with an easy shrug. “But Regina, wouldn’t you rather know the truth of where she came from?”

A dark look comes over Regina’s face, one that Emma understands immediately. Birth parents are a touchy subject for the brunette, she knows and not for the first time, she finds herself wishing she had handled the situation differently when she first arrived in town. Of course, she hadn’t seen the possibility of Regina as an ally back then, but knowing now who she is capable of being, she wishes she hadn’t given up so soon.

She takes her girlfriend’s hand to ground her back into the present. “What did you have in mind?” she asks the dragon, mostly to give Regina a few more minutes to process.

Maleficent pulls out a magic bean from her pocket. “Let me just go back for a few days and ask some questions. That’s it.”

“You won’t bring anyone back with you?” Emma winces, knowing she is at least partially responsible for this fear, as well. She squeezes her hand.

“I promise. If there is someone in the Enchanted Forest with information, I will come back and discuss it with you first. No one will take her away from you.” She adds the last part on as reassurance.

She waits in silence for Regina’s response, but when one doesn’t come, Emma interjects. “What do you think?” she asks.

Regina pulls her hand back from Emma’s grasp. “I think I meant what I said earlier. We need to talk to Faith about this.” If only to give herself a moment alone with Emma before this conversation, she asks Maleficent, “Will you go get her for me, please?”

Maleficent nods and when she is gone, Regina allows herself to breath out her nerves in a shaky sigh. Instantly, Emma’s arms are around her. She doesn’t say anything, just holds her until they hear footsteps on the stairs, announcing Faith’s arrival.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Regina greets Faith. She doesn’t respond, as expected, but she does move slightly closer to her mother before sitting down.

“How is your day going? Did you have a good time with Maleficent?” Again, there is no answer, but Faith allows a small smile to cross her lips. A definite good sign. She hesitates, unsure of how to proceed.

‘ _Presume competence,’_ she reminds herself and just dives in.

“Faith, there’s something I want to ask you.” Faith’s body begins to rock, but Regina knows that happens sometimes when she is concentrating hard on something. “Faith, we may have found a way to find out where you were born. Maleficent has volunteered to go there and see what information she can find.”

She takes the bean and places it Faith’s hand. “This will open a door to the world we think you might be from. Is that something you’re interested in?”

The rocking gets more intense and a bit of a wild look enters Faith’s eyes. She takes a chance and reaches her hand towards her daughter’s. To her surprise, Faith puts down the bean and takes it in her own. “Whatever she finds, I will still be here, baby. You’re my daughter, no matter what.”

The rocking begins to slow as Faith drops her grip and to Regina’s complete shock, slowly reaches her hand out to her mother’s face. She says nothing but strokes her cheek once before she picks the bean up and puts it Maleficent’s hand, closing the dragon’s fingers around it. Maleficent nods and leaves with the bean.

Emma speaks then. “Faith. I wanted to tell you that I’m so sorry for convincing you to come out with us the other day.” There is no indication that she is even heard but continues speaking anyway. “I should have asked you if going to the diner was something you wanted to do. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that it would be hard for you.”

Faith turns and leaves the room without responding and Emma’s heart sinks. She glances at Regina, who is still standing in stunned surprise at what had just occurred. A small smile plays on her lips as she holds her hand on her cheek.

Determined not to ruin the moment for Regina, she decides not to say anything and pulls her cell phone out again to text her mother and find out what time they will be having dinner. A presence next to her distracts her from her text and she looks up to see Faith holding a plastic shopping bag. The girl places the bag in her hand and walks towards the side door, the invitation to join her clear in her motion.

She glances quickly at Regina, who nods and smiles, then follows Faith to the door. Her last sight as she leaves the room is her girlfriend, still standing frozen in the middle of the room, a look of pure joy on her face.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina struggles with her mental health. Faith makes a breakthrough in communication.

When her alarm goes off exactly two weeks later, Regina hits the snooze button for the first time in years. Emma is already downstairs, but she cannot even bring herself to go down and greet her. She lays in bed for another 15 minutes, before she tells herself that she needs to get up to start breakfast.

“Here you go.” When Emma hands her a cup of coffee before she can even get up, she is beyond grateful. She flashes a weak smile, then takes a long sip from the mug.

“Are you ok?”

She nods in response, unready to talk until she has finished her coffee. Emma smiles at her then urges her to remain in bed, telling her she will take care of cooking breakfast.

She doesn’t have the energy to argue. The week has been far too long and so she sits back in bed, sipping from her cup as Emma goes back downstairs.

Two weeks.

It has been two weeks since Maleficent has departed for the Enchanted Forest, potentially opening a Pandora’s box of disaster that she will never be able close again. She wonders, not for the first time, what she had been thinking when she agreed to this.

Her anxiety is higher than she can ever remember it being before. Every noise startles her and she is almost afraid to leave the house. To make matters worse, Faith has picked up on her anxiety and is reacting to it. The entire two weeks has been one incident after another. She barely has enough time to recover from one episode before another one starts, each one more intense than the last.

As she nears the end of her cup of coffee, she stands up and catches a glimpse of her reflection as gets ready to leave the room. The brief glimpse makes her stop and take a closer look. She can’t help but wonder what exactly Emma even sees in her anymore. She can no longer even recognize herself.

Mottled bruises color both sides of her face. Nothing serious, but they are definitely noticeable. They make her wish, as she so often did, that she could find some way to get Faith to talk to her. Their method of communication, Faith’s songs and gestures have always worked to a degree. Lately, though, it is becoming increasingly obvious that when she is angry or stressed, Faith cannot seem to access them.

She takes in her messy hair and the dark circles under her eyes. At one point in her life, she would have pulled out her make up bag to cover the bruises and bags beneath her eyes, but the thought of that seems so exhausting right now that she cannot even consider it.

Sighing, she turns away from the mirror and heads downstairs, wondering if there is any way she can convince Emma to leave to work early. Normally, she cherishes the moments they have together in the morning before Faith comes downstairs, but today the thought of anyone else in her space makes her feel claustrophobic.

She never gets the chance to try. When she enters the kitchen, Emma takes one look at her, sits her down at the table and hands her a second cup of coffee without a word. She can feel the blonde steal glances at her as she drinks, but before she has a chance to even think about talking, Faith comes running down the stairs.

Her heart sinks at the sound. Excess energy in the morning, ironically, is usually indicative of a rough night spent without much sleep. When Faith has slept well, she is calm and relaxed in the morning. When she is overtired, her body expends the extra energy by being in constant motion.

Faith sits down at the table, then immediately jumps back up to run to the refrigerator. Emma and Regina watch as she opens the door, scan the contents, then slam the door shut again. They exchange a worried look as she sits back down and begins rocking.

This is not the gentle rhythmic rocking Faith does when she is concentrating on something. The movement seems frantic, as though there is something inside of her body that she is desperate to expel. Emma sets a plate down in front of the teenager, then motions for Regina to follow her to the kitchen.

“Has it been like this since Mal left?”

“Pretty much. I don’t know why, though. She seemed to be on board with the idea.”

Emma nods and stares at Regina until the air in the room begins to feel tense. “Regina, I…I’m not sure how to say this, but-“

“I look like shit?”

“What? No! That’s not what I was going to say.”

“Then what, Emma?” She can hear the edge in her voice, and she hates it, but can’t seem to stop it from coming out anyway. She is so damn tired.

“I was going to suggest that she is picking up on how you are feeling.”

Regina’s head drops at that. “I know she is. I wish I were better at shielding my fear from her.”

Emma shakes her head. “It’s not just fear, Regina. You’re anxious and I think you are depressed.”

“I am most certainly not depressed,” she says, offended at the idea. She is too strong to be depressed. Not to mention, far too old. 

“Depression isn’t something to be ashamed of”

“Of course, it isn’t. But I am _not_ depressed.”

“Listen Regina,” Emma begins. She is interrupted by the sound of something clattering to the floor. Regina closes her eyes briefly. The day is starting, and she has no energy to deal with it. She opens her eyes and sees Emma watching her in worry.

“I could stay.”

“No. Go to work. I’ve got this.”

Emma’s hand reaches out towards the bruise on her left cheek and strokes it gently. She had gotten it the night before after Emma had left for the night.

“I wish I could make things easier for you.”

She smiles briefly at that. “You do.”

“I really don’t mind staying.”

“I know. But we can’t put our lives on hold until Maleficent gets back. We have no idea how long she will even be gone.”

She can see that Emma doesn’t agree, but the blonde pulls her jacket on anyway. She forces a smile onto her face in order to convince Emma that it is ok to go.

“Regina, listen. I don’t think this is just about Maleficent’s trip and being worried about Faith’s past.” She puts a hand up when she sees Regina open her mouth to argue. “Just hear me out, ok?”

“Ok.”

“I wasn’t going to bring up the way you look, but since you did…” Her voice trails off as she watches Regina unconsciously reach up to smooth her hair down and turn her face so the bruises that she has gotten over the past weeks would not be visible.

“I know I don’t look particularly attractive. I’m sorry.”

“Stop, Regina. You don’t have to hide from me. You know that I think you are beautiful.” Regina’s head drops a bit, but it doesn’t deter her from speaking. “But you look like you haven’t slept in weeks and I can tell you haven’t been taking care of yourself. That’s not like you.”

She swallows at the look of hurt on her girlfriend’s face. “I’m not saying this to hurt your feelings, but I’m worried about you.”

“I know,” she says, but before she can continue, something else clatters to the floor and she winces. “I better get back into the dining room.”

“Ok.”

Regina turns to go, but Emma grabs her arm before she can leave. “Regina, I’m sorry.”

That stops her in her tracks. “What for?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Regina interrupts her with a quick kiss.

“You didn’t,” she assures her. “I know I haven’t been the best girlfriend the last few weeks.”

That is so far from what Emma is trying to say that she has to take a minute to formulate a reply, but by then Regina has gone back to the dining room and it is too late.

\-------------------------------------------------

That afternoon, Emma lets herself in through the side door. Faith is napping on the couch, clearly worn out from another night of little sleep. Regina is sitting at her computer, eyes fixed on whatever document is open in front of her. She glances up at the sound of the door opening and Emma waves at her, then heads upstairs quickly.

Regina watches her go, a bit sadly. She knows they left things a bit uncertainly between them that morning, but she can’t help but feel a little hurt that Emma didn’t even come in for a kiss.

 _‘You really are losing it,’_ she scolds herself. She forces herself back to the lesson plan she is creating for Faith on the computer. She had made the decision to home school Faith shortly after she adopted her and came the realization that Storybrooke’s special education program was sorely lacking.

Yet another thing she meant to fix as Mayor that she ended up postponing. Still, she does feel somewhat successful at this part of her life, at least. Homeschooling was an adjustment, but she thoroughly enjoys it.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She glances down to see a text from Emma asking her to come upstairs. She complies and goes up to her bedroom but does not see the blonde.

“Emma?”

“In here.”

Regina pushes open the door to the master bathroom and to her amazement there is a bubble bath drawn and candles are lit everywhere. Her breath catches slightly.

“Join me?”

She hesitates only for a moment, then begins to undress. Once they are settled in the oversized tub and Regina lets out her first sigh of contentment, Emma speaks.

“Do you remember the day we got together?”

“Mhmm.” Regina nods without opening her eyes. Emma starts to rub her shoulders and she can feel herself relax even more.

“I gave you a massage remember? And you talked about what was going on with you and Faith.”

Her eyes fly open. “Is that why you did this?”

“No. I just thought this would help you relax. You don’t have to say anything, but I have a few things to say, ok?”

She closes her eyes again and leans back in Emma’s arms. “Ok.”

Emma begins rubbing her shoulders again. “I’m worried about you.”

“You said that this morning.”

“And I’m saying it again because you blew it off this morning. And you’re about to blow it off again, I can tell just by looking at you. Please, take me seriously.”

She sits up to face Emma. “I’m not depressed Emma. I’m just going through a rough patch. I promise I will be fine as soon as Maleficent gets back with some answers.”

“I don’t think you will be,” she says gently. “This has been going on a lot longer than just the last couple of weeks since Maleficent left. You’ve been having panic attacks and you’re not sleeping. You don’t take care of yourself anymore and we haven’t had sex in almost two weeks. And before you say anything, that isn’t what this is about. It’s just another way you haven’t been acting like yourself.”

“I’m _fine._ ” She pushes back the tears that threaten her eyes. “Why are you doing this, Emma?”

“Because I love you. Because I want you to be ok.” She leans forwards and puts her arms around Regina. “Because I want to help you and be there for you and I don’t know how to. Please, Regina, go talk to Archie.”

Her brain rebels at the idea, but when she lifts her head from her girlfriend’s chest, she finds she cannot say no to the look in her eyes.

“You know how you said that you haven’t been the best girlfriend these last few weeks?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re the only one I want. No matter what.”

She smiles, the first genuine smile in days and turns back around so her back is to Emma again. Emma places gentle kisses on the back of her neck and her shoulders before trailing kisses down her spine. She shudders, feeling the longing stirring inside of her.

“Ok.”

“Ok, what?”

She groans at the feeling of Emma’s fingers running up her legs. “Ok. I’ll talk to Archie.”

\--------------------------------

Faith wakes up from her nap in a better mood and for the first time in days, Regina can feel herself breathe as she prepares dinner. The meal is uneventful, and when it is over, Emma suddenly lights up.

“Oh!” She says. “I almost forgot!” She jumps up from the table and runs upstairs, returning with a manilla envelope. “You’ll never guess what my mother found in her things.”

She takes it from her curiously and opens it. In it is a drawing of herself as a young woman, riding Rocinante. Her eyes look bright and happy in the drawing and she is smiling from ear to ear. Her breath catches as she stares at it.

“Where did she get this?”

Emma looks at her curiously. “Is everything ok?”

“Daniel drew this, not long before he died. I searched for it everywhere when I had my things moved into the palace.”

Emma’s eyes widen as she looks at the drawing again. “Now I know why she gave it to me to give to you, instead of giving it to you herself.”

“Did she _take_ this from my things? I thought my mother destroyed it.”

“I honestly don’t know, Regina.”

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter anymore,” she whispers. “I have it back now, that’s what counts.” She runs her fingers over the drawing in reverence. From the corner of her eye, she sees Faith staring at it.

“It’s a picture of me on my favorite horse when I wasn’t much older than you. Would you like to see it?”

She slides it across the table and holds her breath as Faith mimics her motion from earlier and runs her fingers over the paper.

A few moments pass as Regina tries to curb her anxiety of the drawing being out of her own hands again. She tells herself to let go a little and watches her daughter stare at the picture. Then, without a word Faith gets up and walks out of the room, leaving the paper on the table.

She reaches for it frowning. Across the table, Emma is frowning in confusion as well.

“Where is she going?”

Regina shrugs. It isn’t really like Faith to leave the table in the middle of a meal, but then, nothing has really been typical for the last few weeks. Before she can question it further, though, Faith returns, holding something in her hand.

It is one of the speech generated devices that Regina bought her when she first adopted her, hoping to find a way to communicate with her. They have all long since been put away, Faith having shown no interest in any of them.

Faith sets the device down and touches the screen. She presses several letters.

H-O-R-S-E

“Horse,” says the device cheerfully.

Emma and Regina stare at Faith in shock. She presses more buttons as they wait, breathless, for the machine to speak again.

“Ride horse.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina has a session with Archie. Faith begins horse therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to the real Melanie, who has been a lifesaver for my family. If anyone is interested in equine assisted psychotherapy or hippotherapy, I highly encourage you to research it and give it a try. It can be truly life changing.

“Thank you for coming in, Regina.” 

“Thank you for seeing me.”

She shifts a bit in discomfort as Archie waits for her to begin. When a few minutes pass without a word between them, he decides to speak first.

“Regina, I can appreciate that coming to see me wasn’t easy for you.”

She acknowledges his words with only a nod. It is impossible to ignore the pattern of her eyes as they move in a cycle between the clock above his head, the painting on his wall, and the doorway to her right. She still has not made eye contact with him, but she also has not bolted. He decides to consider that promising.

“You don’t have to tell me why you are here if you are not ready to.”

She nods again, but still does not meet his eyes. As he watches her, he cannot help but wonder what could possibly be so scary that a woman that has stood toe to toe with all manner of monsters is suddenly rendered mute.

It is disconcerting to say the least. This is _Regina Mills_ after all. Even as that thought occurs to him, he recognizes that it is unfair. Perhaps that is why she finds it so difficult to speak about what is bothering her, because everyone always expects her to be _Regina Mills_ all the time.

Her eyes shift towards the door and if he didn’t know better, he would say she looked at that doorway as though it were her lifeline. He decides to take a different approach.

“Ok, will you try something with me?”

Glancing at him for the first time, she speaks at last. “I suppose that depends on what it is.”

Cautious as ever. That’s ok. He can work with that.

“Here’s what I want to try. I am going to ask you a series of questions. Nothing personal, just conversation starters. You can be as brief or as lengthy in your responses as you choose. If you don’t want to answer something, just say I don’t want to answer that, and I’ll drop it. Does that sound fair?”

Her eyes narrow for a moment. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch Regina. I just want to get you used to talking in my office, that’s all.”

She considers this. “I can talk in this office just fine, Dr. Hopper.”

“With all due respect, Regina, we have been sitting here for 15 minutes and you haven’t said a word until now. Are you willing to give this a shot?”

She rolls her eyes but agrees. “Ok.”

“Good.” He flashes a smile at her and begins.

“What did you have for breakfast this morning?”

She turns the question over in her mind as she looks at him suspiciously. “That’s your first question?”

“Yes. Why are you so hesitant to answer?”

“I’m not,” she insists. “I had turkey sausage and an omelet for breakfast.”

He nods in approval. “I bet you make a mean omelet.”

“Emma made it.” The sentence escapes her before she can stop it, but he does not comment on it.

“Was it good?”

“Delicious,” she admits. Despite herself, she smiles as she thinks of her surprise when she tried it that morning, certain that it would not be anywhere as good as her own. He notes the smile, but again does not comment.

“What did you do between breakfast and coming here?”

“I taught a math lesson to my daughter. I homeschool her.”

“That’s right. How is that going?”

She hesitates again before answering. As she fiddles with the buttons on the cuffs of her blouse, he notes the bruise on the inside of her wrist. This makes him take a closer look at her and he can see the faded bruises that her carefully applied makeup had been unable to completely hide.

She can feel him studying her and shifts in her seat again. “It’s going well. I really enjoy it.”

“Of all the realms you have been to, which one is your favorite?”

The abrupt topic change startles her, but he just continues to look at her with the same steady look. She shrugs. “This one.”

“Why?”

“I like indoor plumbing.”

As expected, he chuckles at that. “So do I, I must admit.”

There is so much more about this world that she loves, though. She grew up here, even if she physically reached adulthood in the Enchanted Forest. She earned her redemption here. Adopted both of her children.

No matter where she was born, Storybrooke is home. She had created it to be just that and now that it finally feels that way, she has no desire to leave ever again.

She can feel his eyes on her asking her if she wanted to keep talking. When she says nothing, he asks his next question. Then another and another until she begins to loosen up and answer in a bit more detail. Before she knows what is happening, conversation is flowing between them.

“May I ask your professional opinion on something?”

He hides his smile. “Of course.”

“What do you know about horse therapy?”

He frowns at that, a bit confused. “Can you elaborate a little? What kind of information are you looking for?”

“My daughter has intellectual disabilities,” she explains. He nods and encourages her to continue with a gesture of his hand.

“I feel that she would benefit from therapy, but she has communication barriers that make most traditional forms of counseling challenging.”

“And you want to try horse therapy?”

“She recently expressed an interest in horses.” She does not add Maleficent’s suspicion, that Faith may have magic that connects her to animals.

He sits back in his chair and thinks for a bit, his fingers clasping together as he gathers his thoughts.

“I am not an expert in this type of therapy at all, but I do know a bit. I can give you the information that I have and maybe ask around to provide you with a referral.”

“I would really appreciate it.”

“Ok, first tell me if you know the different types of horse therapy.”

Her face screws up a bit in confusion. “I wasn’t even aware that there were different types.”

He nods again. “We will start there then. The most common type of horse therapy is hippotherapy.”

She pulls out her phone and opens a new document. “Do you mind if I take notes?”

“Not at all. I can also send you a link to some websites that explain it in more detail. “Hippotherapy is less about mental health counseling and falls more under the type of work that an OT or Speech therapist might do. Physical therapy as well,” he explains. “The therapists receive specialized training and certification, and it has shown a lot of promise in aiding with muscle development, language development and emotional regulation.”

Her tongue pokes out the corner of her mouth as her fingers fly quickly across her keyboard. “Got it.”

“There is also therapeutic riding. This is not really therapy, it is just using riding as a healing or relaxing activity under the guidance and supervision of a certified professional. Bear in mind though, that this certification is not the same thing as being a licensed mental health counselor or any other type of therapist. Some are, but not all.”

“Ok,” she says, beginning to feel overwhelmed. This is a lot of information.

“You still with me?” She assures him that she is, and he continues.

“Lastly, you have equine assisted psychotherapy. These sessions focus only on mental health counseling, using the human-equine interaction. It may or may not encompass actually riding, though. It is really all a question of what you are looking for.”

She laughs at him as she finishes up writing. “For someone who doesn’t know much, you just threw a whole lot into my lap. How on earth am I supposed to figure out which one is right for her?”

“You don’t have to choose right now. How about I email you some more information and you can make a decision when you’re ready.”

That seems like a solid plan and she agrees to it. Glancing at the clock, she notes with some relief that her hour is up, and it is time to get going. She stands up and he pushes his chair back from his desk so he can escort her to the door.

When she reaches the safety of the doorway, she turns to him. “My daughter isn’t the reason I came today. At least it’s not the only reason.”

“I know that, Regina.” He waits patiently by the door, waiting to see if she would elaborate. She isn’t sure why she can’t. Why this is so difficult.

He speaks again. “I can imagine that things have been overwhelming.” His voice is gentle and unthreatening, but all at once it feels like the most frightening sound in the world. She is suddenly terrified that she is going to open her mouth, and everything will come out once, right at the time when she is supposed to be leaving.

As though he can read her mind he says, “You don’t have to leave, you know. I don’t have another patient after you.”

She shakes her head emphatically. She can’t do that. Can she?

“Regina, if you are not comfortable talking to me, I can get you a referral to someone else. Someone outside of Storybrooke.”

As tempting as that sounds, she has her doubts about whether that would be a good idea. How would she go about telling an outsider about the things that trouble her? Her stressors are so outside the realm of normal for almost anyone outside of Storybrooke.

She expresses her concern, and he shrugs. “I suppose. Still, it is something to consider. You need to find someone you can open up to.”

“Maybe I can open up to you, in time. I would like to try.”

“Perhaps this will help. I never should have told Emma that you were coming to see me all those years ago. It was a blatant violation of the APA Code of Ethics and frankly, it could have gotten me suspended if you had chosen to report me.”

She stares at him, open-mouthed. She had forgotten all about that. “You were trying to help me.”

“I was,” he agrees. “But that doesn’t make it right. I should have told you this years ago, but I’m sorry about that, Regina. I assure you, nothing like that will ever happen again.”

The idea that anyone from The Enchanted Forest apologize to her seems ludicrous. “You don’t have to apologize. I’ve certainly done a lot worse to you.”

“It’s not a competition,” he says lightly. “And we can talk about that as well, if you would like. But I just wanted to address this because it has been weighing on my mind for a long time.”

“Talk about what?”

“Your need to keep punishing yourself years after everyone has forgiven you. But for now, will you accept my apology?”

She goes quiet for a moment as she processes his words. She had forgotten the incident, but some part of her subconscious had obviously remembered, because she suddenly feels a bit better. A bit more able to trust him, trust this process.

“I accept your apology. And thank you, Dr. Hopper.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

Melanie, the counselor that Archie finds for Faith is located at a stable about 40 minutes away from Storybrooke. She is young, around 30, with brown hair that is thrown casually into a ponytail and hazel eyes that sparkle when s he smiles.

When Regina first speaks with her on the phone, she explains a bit about the situation. “My daughter doesn’t talk,” she says, still a bit confused about how this works. She will remember the counselor’s answer forever.

“She doesn’t need to. The horse can’t talk either.”

Instantly, Regina is transported back to the Enchanted Forest and the hours she spent in Rocinante’s stall, brushing him and taking care of him. Words hadn’t been necessary then either. She knew he understood her, just as she could sense his needs and feelings. It had been the happiest time in her life.

The idea of mental health counseling in a stable suddenly makes perfect sense to her and she is beyond grateful that she has found someone that can give her daughter that experience.

When Faith firsts meets Melanie, it is as though a light comes on in her eyes. She looks around in wonder as they walk trail and Melanie points out the stalls, the tack room, and of course the horses. After a while, Melanie leaves them alone for a minute and comes back leading a brown miniature pony.

“Faith, I would like to introduce you to my friend Cocoa.” As Faith reaches forward to stroke Cocoa’s velvety nose, Regina meets Melanie’s eyes over their heads and they both smile.

 _‘This could work,’_ Regina thinks as she drives them back home. This feels different from all the other therapies they have tried. She cannot help but feel a bit hopeful about their chance for knowing that this is what Faith wants. Her heart feels light as she thinks about it. Her daughter made a request and Regina was able to fill it. It feels incredible.

When she pulls up to the mansion, Emma comes to meet them outside. She gives the blonde a kiss as she lets Faith out of the car and begins to walk towards the door.

“Wait,” Emma says. She stops and looks at her, raising an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

Emma takes a deep breath. “Maleficent is back.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faith's past is revealed.

_Maleficent is back._

The words slam into Regina, destroying her good mood. It feels as though someone has poured a bucket of ice water over her, rousing her from a good dream and dragging her back into reality.

“When?’

There is so much more she wants to ask, but somehow the single word is all she can manage. Emma watches her struggle to catch her breath and squeezes her hand gently.

“About an hour ago.”

She hears the answer, but it doesn’t register in her brain. She knows she needs to go inside, but fear grips her and the only thing she can think to do is grab Emma and Faith and drive until this all goes away.

“Regina?”

She looks up at her girlfriend with unfocused eyes. She wants to speak, wants to tell Emma that she can’t do this right now, but nothing comes out. Instead, she lets her gaze settle on Faith who is watching her silently.

 _‘Breathe,’_ she orders herself. She reminds herself that this is what Faith wants. She has told them as much in the best way that she knows how. Slowly, the feeling of Emma’s hand in hers registers and she squeezes back.

She can do this. With Emma at her side, she can give her daughter what she asked for, no matter how much it scares her. She takes slow deep breaths, counting in her mind the way Emma has shown her in the past.

“Has she-?” Her throat feels dry and she tries to clear it. “Has she said anything yet?”

“No,” Emma tells her gently. “We waited for you guys to get back.”

“Ok. Let’s go inside.”

“Are you sure?”

She takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. “I’m sure. Come on, Faith.”

When they go inside and she sees Maleficent, some of her worry dissipates into happiness. Despite her apprehension, she has missed her friend and is genuinely glad to see her. She moves forward and hugs her, feeling how she jumps slightly in surprise before returning the embrace.

“It’s good to see you, Mal.”

The dragon smiles at her and some more of her fear evaporates. They settle down on the sofas in the living room before Regina jumps back up.

“Coffee, anyone? Tea?”

Maleficent and Emma exchange a quick glance before they both shake their heads.

“No need to stand on ceremony, Regina. It’s just me,” Maleficent says quietly.

“I’m not,” she insists. “I’m just-“

"Stalling,” Emma interjects. “You’re stalling.”

She gives up with a sigh. “Yes. I suppose I am.” She sits back down beside Emma, directly across from Maleficent. Between them, Faith sits by herself on the carpet.

Before Maleficent can speak, Regina asks a question. “Are you here by yourself?”

The dragon looks surprised by the question. “Yes, of course I am.”

“And no one else is coming?”

Emma places a hand on her shoulder as she waits for a reply.

“No, Regina,” Maleficent says gently. “You don’t need to worry. No one else is coming.”

She lets out the breath that she hadn’t even noticed she was holding. “So then, you didn’t find anything?”

“That’s not exactly what I said.”

The fear is back, gnawing at her stomach, but it feels a bit more manageable now. “Start from the beginning.”

“Do you want me to explain how I was able to track her or just what I found out?”

“I don’t need the details of the spells you used, no. You can fill me in on that later.”

Maleficent nods and turns to Faith. “Faith, I tracked you to a remote village in the southeastern part of the Enchanted Forest.” She hands Faith a sketch of the village. “You lived there until you were 4. Do you remember it?”

Faith takes the sketch and runs her fingers over it. She doesn’t reply, but Regina senses that her daughter does, in fact, remember the village she was born in.

“Where exactly is this village?”

“It’s about a 3 day journey from your castle. It’s very small. In fact, I almost missed it.”

Regina frowns, trying to remember if she has ever been there. “Did you find any relatives?”

“No.” Maleficent turns back to Faith, who has looked up from the drawing. “I’m sorry, Faith. Your mother died giving birth to you and she had no relatives that I can find.”

Despite not knowing the woman, Regina feels a sense of loss. This woman, whoever she was, gave birth to her daughter. She is worth remembering and mourning, even if her death happened years ago.

“What was her name?” Emma interjects quietly. Regina shoots her a brief smile of thanks for asking.

“Nadia. The people in the village remember her well. She was a very special woman.”

“How so?”

“She was an empath,” Maleficent explains. “She could read emotions the way some people read words. The villagers said that being in her presence felt like floating on the calmest river, almost as though she drew their pain away from them and into herself.”

“Is that magic?” Emma asks.

Regina shakes her head. “I’ve met a couple of empaths in the Enchanted Forest.” She doesn’t add that she sought them out because she had heard of their ability and she wanted to pass some of her pain onto someone else. “It’s not really magic. It’s more just like heightened sensitivity.”

“Oh, like you said dragons have,” Emma says to Maleficent.

“In a sense, yes.” The dragon turns back to Faith. “This belonged to your mother. One of the villagers gave it to me to give to you.” She hands Faith a baby blue handkerchief with Nadia’s name embroidered on it. Faith gently puts it up to her face.

“What about her father?”

“Right. Yes, well.” Maleficent takes a deep breath. “That’s where it gets a bit trickier.”

Regina’s eyes narrowed. “Tricky, how exactly?”

“It took quite a bit of searching to find someone that remembered him, but I was able to do it, finally.”

“And?”

“And,” she takes another deep breath. “Faith’s father wasn’t human.”

The world stops for a minute.

“What does that mean?” Emma asks when Regina appears unable to say anything.

Maleficent doesn’t answer her. She is looking directly at Faith. “Your father was a dragon, Faith. You’re a dragon.”

\-----------------------------------

“Talk to me, Regina,” Emma says.

She shakes her head. It has been 30 minutes since Maleficent made her revelation and she is still unable to say anything.

“Regina, please. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She glances into the living room from her place in the kitchen. Mal has moved to sit next to Faith on the floor and they are sitting without a word. She wonders what her daughter is thinking right now, if she is glad they have gone down this road.

“I’m thinking that I have no idea how to take care of a dragon,” she confesses.

“You’ve been taking of a dragon for 4 years,” Emma points out. “Nothing has to change.”

She shakes her head again. Everything has changed. Nothing will ever be the same again.

“I know this is scary, but you’re not alone. I’ve got you, no matter what.”

She leans back into Emma’s familiar touch. “I know.”

“We’ll do this together. Maleficent will tell us everything we need to know, and we will face it together.”

“Do you promise?” The vulnerability in her eyes breaks Emma’s heart. She tightens her arm that is around Regina’s shoulder.

“I promise. No matter what, Regina.”

Regina nods, but Emma isn’t satisfied. “ _No matter what,”_ she says again, more emphatically this time. “You and me, Regina. We’re going to do this.”

She lets out a shaky breath and allows Emma to hold her for a minute more, drawing strength from her embrace.

“Ready to go back in there?”

She nods and they walk back into the living room hand in hand. Maleficent looks up and she can sense the dragon asking her silently if she is ok. She nods and sits down next to Faith, wanting to be next to her daughter. Mal stands up and returns to the love seat that had previously occupied.

“I didn’t know that dragons had babies with humans,” Emma remarks. Maleficent shrugs.

“It’s rare, but it happens. My mother was human.”

Regina can vaguely remember Maleficent telling her about her mother years ago in the Enchanted Forest. The memory of what happened to her is hazy, as are most from that time in her life, but she can recall that the story was tragic. She sends Mal a sympathetic smile, knowing that talking about her mother is painful, and the dragon sends back a look of thanks.

“But that leads me to the next discovery I made.”

Regina’s eyes snap up in worry. “There’s more?” she asks in disbelief.

“Yes.” Maleficent hesitates, the worry in her eyes clear. “The dragon that mated with your mother, Faith…” Her voice trails off and Regina feels like she is about to explode.

“Talk, Mal,” she orders harshly.

“It’s the same one that mated with mine.”

There is a moment of complete silence as they all process that before Emma speaks.

“But that means that you and Faith are-“

“Sisters. Yes.” Her eyes are fixed on Faith and Regina can see that there are tears in them. The sight is stunning to her. In all the years that she has known Maleficent she has never seen her cry.

“You’re my sister, Faith,” she says quietly.

The room falls silent and again, until Regina cannot take it anymore.

“Tell me everything,” she says. Maleficent nods in agreement.

“Once I found out that Faith’s father was a dragon, I sought out some other dragons that knew him. Our father was one of the oldest dragons in existence. Somewhere along the line, he apparently decided he enjoyed the company of humans and spent several centuries traveling the Enchanted Forest in human form.”

“So, there could be others,” Emma says. “Other siblings, I mean.”

Maleficent shakes her head. “The dragons didn’t seem to think so. Just Faith and me. 300 years apart.”

The reveal of Maleficent’s age is not as surprising to Regina as it appears to be to Emma. She has long suspected the dragon counted her age in decades as opposed to years.

“Your, um, challenges were clear from a young age, Faith.”

“Disabilities,” Regina corrects. She has long since learned not shy away from that word. Her daughter is smart and compassionate and talented, but she is also disabled. Skirting around that does her a disservice.

“Disabilities, then,” Maleficent says. “When you started to show signs of transforming, the villagers became afraid and they tracked your father down. He came and got you and raised you for a couple of years.”

Faith is listening intently, but she is clear she is becoming tired. When she gets up and goes to the stairs, Regina isn’t surprised.

“Would you like to go lie down, sweetie?”

Faith doesn’t respond, but she waits at the foot of the stairs for Regina to join her. Relieved that her daughter wants her to come upstairs with her, Regina stands up and they begin to go up the stairs.

Maleficent stands up. “Have a good rest, Faith.” Faith glances back at her and they hold each other’s gaze for a long moment. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” she reassures her, and Faith turns to go upstairs.

When Regina comes back downstairs a few minutes later, Maleficent and Emma are engaged in quiet conversation. They both look up when she enters the room and Emma places an arm around Regina once she sits back down on the couch.

“You can’t have her, Mal. I don’t want to fight you, but I will if I have to.” Emma adds a bit of pressure to her hold to silently lend Regina her support.

“What? No. Regina, no, no.” Maleficent leans forward in her eagerness to assure Regina of her intentions. “You’re her mother. She belongs here, with you. I just want to be able to spend time with her.”

Regina lets out a sigh of relief and leans back on the couch. “Of course, you can spend time with her.” Mal flashes her a smile of thanks.

“Why has Faith never transformed?” Emma asks. Regina looks up at the question. It has never occurred to her.

“When my father got Faith and recognized that she is disabled he was afraid that she would be a danger in her dragon form. So, he locked it away.”

“Locked it away how, exactly?”

Maleficent looks uncomfortable at the question. “I can explain it to you, but Regina, I need you to promise me that you are going to stay here in the present. Don’t start torturing yourself ok?”

“Ok,” she agrees, confused.

“Do you remember when you trapped me in my dragon form? Do you remember how you did that?”

“I cast a spell that forced your transformation, then sent you here where there was no magic.”

“Exactly. I wasn’t able to transform back.”

Regina nods in understanding. “Is that what he did? Forced her into her human form and sent her here?”

Maleficent doesn’t answer and as Regina contemplates what happened, Emma speaks up in anger.

“He sent a disabled child here by herself?”

“No,” Maleficent says. “I mean yes, but not intentionally. He was going to go with her, but they were attacked by hunters as he opened the portal. He pushed her through and then fought them, but he was killed in the fight.” Her eyes fill with tears for the second time and this time Regina goes to sit next to her.

“I’m so sorry, Mal.” She puts her hand on the dragon’s shoulder and Mal gives her a shaky smile.

“It’s ok. I’m ok. I never even really knew him,” she says. Regina knows that doesn’t really matter, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she asks the question that has been bothering her.

“Why hasn’t she transformed since she came to Storybrooke? There is magic here.”

“I’m not certain. I assume it has to do with the type of spell he used. Her dragon form is locked away inside of her."

She stands up and begins to pace the room. Emma and Maleficent watch her, but they don’t comment. She continues to walk, trying to think of how she wants to form her next question.

“Was he right? In his decision, I mean. Is she safer remaining human?”

Maleficent hesitates again. “Sit down, Regina,” she says.

Regina obeys, though she is not sure why Mal made the request. She looks at her and waits for the response that Mal does not want to seem to give her.

“Having part of you locked away….” she says slowly. “Well, it hurts.”

Regina’s eyes widen. “When you say it hurts, what do you mean exactly?”

Maleficent shifts uncomfortably. “It hurts a lot. The part that is locked away fights to get out, all the time. The pain is almost unbearable.” She watches Regina’s face go pale. “Remember your promise, Regina.”

There is no promise in the world that can ease Regina’s guilt at that moment. “I don’t know what to say, Mal. I’m so, so sorry.”

“You don’t need to keep apologizing. I know that 28 years seems like a long time to the both of you, but for me, it was barely a blip on my radar. I hardly even remember it.”

This isn’t true and Regina knows it, but she knows that this is how Maleficent deals with things. She tries to push the guilt away so that she can focus on Faith and what she needs.

“I was never going to tell you,” Maleficent continues. “But now, knowing that Faith is going through it, I had to. I believe my father thought he was doing the right thing, but the answer to your question is no. I don’t believe that what he did was right.”

“So, what happens now?” Regina asks.

“Ultimately the choice is up to you and Faith,” Maleficent explains. “The dragons gave me a spell that will unlock her dragon form and I am willing to teach her how transform and how to fly. But being a dragon can be a very lonely life.”

Regina thinks about this. “How long do dragons live?”

“Hard to say, exactly. We are functionally immortal in the sense that our cells repair and regenerate very quickly. We don’t get sick or die of old age.”

“But you can be killed,” Emma says unnecessarily. She remembers killing the dragon very well.

“Yes. As long as we are dealt a death blow that kills us before our cells repair themselves.”

The realization hits Regina all at once. “She will live centuries after I’m gone.”

“She won’t be alone,” Maleficent assures her quickly. “Lily and I will take care of her, always.”

The wave of grief that hits her is so powerful it almost knocks the wind out of her. “I’ll barely be a blip on her radar,” she says, repeating the dragon’s words from earlier. The thought of her daughter forgetting her is devastating.

“Regina, no. I’m over three hundred years old and I still remember my mother. I won’t let her forget you. I promise.”

A sudden noise in the doorway makes them all look up. Faith is standing there and when Regina goes over to stand next to her, the teenager puts her hand on her cheek as she had a few weeks earlier. After a moment, she pulls out her communication device and presses a button.

“Mom,” the tinny robotic voice says and Regina gasps and pulls her daughter to her holding her tight.

\-----------------------------------

Emma watches Faith get into the back seat of the car before opening the passenger door and getting in herself. Maleficent has left with a promise to return tomorrow.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“I want to share something with Faith,” Regina replies as she directs the car down the road. “And I want you there, too.”

She doesn’t say any more than that, but somehow Emma isn’t surprised when they pull up to Storybrooke’s stables.

“Her first ride?” she asks. Regina nods in confirmation.

Faith listens closely as Regina and the stable hand introduce her to Viola, the mare that she will be riding. They allow them to bond for a while, then Regina walks her through how to put the saddle on her and mount.

At first, Regina leads her in a walk, then shows her how to hold the reins herself and steps back to allow her to walk Viola by herself. Faith doesn’t appear to need a single lesson. It looks as though she has been riding all her life and after a while Regina moves her up to a trot.

Emma watches in silence as Faith gradually picks up speed until Regina allows her to canter. It seems unbelievable that this is Faith’s first ride, and she is already cantering, but she supposes she shouldn’t be surprised.

Regina steps back towards the fence as Faith and Viola run around the track. She goes faster and faster until she is barely a blur as she goes by. She squeals in excitement and the smile on her face is unlike anything Regina has seen before.

A hand on her back distracts her and she smiles at Emma as they watch Faith side by side.

“Your daughter is meant to fly,” Emma says. 

“Yes. I know.”

“So? what are you going to do?”

“Well first, I am going to get on a horse and join her on her ride.”

Emma smiles at that. “And then?”

“Then, I’m going to let her fly.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote chapter 1 of this story 3 months ago, intending for it to be a one shot. I never expected it to go past that, but sometimes stories just won't leave you alone.
> 
> Thank you to everyone that followed and supported this story. It truly means the world to me.
> 
> -Sarah

_6 Months later_

“So, where is my aunt, anyway?”

Regina looks up from the cake she is decorating and smiles a greeting at Lily. “She’s out flying with your mother.” The words still sound a bit foreign to her, but they are getting easier to say each time her daughter leaves for a flying lesson with Maleficent.

“Nice. Maybe I should go join them.”

“Your mother said it would be a short flight today. I expect them back momentarily.”

“All right. Do you need help with anything?”

The question earns a snort from Emma who is sitting at the table. “Yeah right. She barely even let me into the kitchen today.”

“Excuse me for trying to make things perfect. Besides, don’t you need to be leaving?”

Emma glances at the clock and gulps down the rest of her coffee quickly. “Shit. I’m going to be late.”

“Well, go on then, Miss Swan. Go get our son from the airport and bring him back here.”

She gives Emma a quick kiss and practically shoves her out the door. She hasn’t seen Henry in months and her excitement has been rising since that morning.

“Oh, and do me a favor, please. If he still has that ridiculous beard, get rid of it with magic before he enters this house, would you?”

“Control freak,” Emma teases as she puts her coat on.

“I prefer perfectionist, thank you.”

The mirth disappears from Emma’s eyes, to be replaced with a warmth that never fails to make Regina’s heart flutter just a bit. “Perfectionist? I think you mean perfect.”

Regina glances at Lily who is watching the exchange with a smirk she is doing nothing at all to hide. It hits Regina once again how similar she is to her mother. They may look nothing alike, but everything about her just screams Maleficent.

“Get going, Miss Swan.”

She feels the tingle of warmth in her chest once again as her fiancé kisses her good-bye and leaves for the airport.

Fiancé.

She is still getting used to the term. Still having trouble controlling the tingles she feels when she thinks about the day last month when Emma had dropped to one knee and solemnly asked her to be her wife. She bites her lip, trying not to smile as she remembers how Emma’s voice had trembled slightly and her hand had shaken as she tried to place the ring on Regina’s finger.

It wasn’t that long ago that she had felt alone and afraid of the future. Now she wakes every morning with a smile on her face and Emma in her arms. And of course, weekly sessions with Archie and a well-regulated dose of antidepressants because sometimes we need a little extra help and there is nothing wrong with that.

A whooshing sound outside the window distracts her from her thoughts and she glances outside to see Maleficent and Faith transform back into their human forms. Quickly, she grabs 2 bottles of water and goes outside to greet her dragons.

Maleficent offers her a quick smile as she downs the water in one gulp. Faith is a bit slower in her efforts but flying is a bit tiring and she clearly appreciates the gesture.

“How was the flight?”

“Wonderful,” Maleficent replies, cracking her neck as she re-adjusts her limbs. Faith copies the gesture, as she does with most things she sees her big sister do. Their relationship never fails to bring a smile to Regina’s face. It is beautiful, not just for Faith who desperately needs the interaction with someone who understands her, but for Maleficent as well. In the decades she has known her, this is the happiest she can remember the dragon ever being.

“Ready for the big day, Faith?”

Faith doesn’t answer, but she is smiling as she prepares to go inside. It is a big day, indeed. Today Faith turns 17. She knows that Maleficent and Lily think it is a bit silly to celebrate the birthday of a creature that is immortal, but she needs to mark the day. She needs to celebrate the last year and all that it has brought them.

Since they figured out that Faith had inherited both her father’s dragon DNA and her mother’s empathy, it became clear that most of her anxiety and frustration came from simply being overwhelmed by too many feelings and voices happening at once. Once they realized that and they adjusted accordingly, things became so much better.

It still isn’t simple. Faith is disabled and all the adjustments in the world don’t change that. She still does not speak, and she has trouble caring for herself. But now that they understand her struggle a bit better, the constant frustration and rage have diminished considerably.

Today, they are keeping the birthday dinner small and limiting the guests to family only. Even so, Maleficent, Lily, Henry, Neal and Emma’s parents make six additional people in their home today. In preparation, Regina has taken her to see Melanie first thing that morning and for a ride on Viola on the way home. When it became clear that she is still anxious, Maleficent offers to take her on a short flight to help release some of her tension.

“Mom!”

She is suddenly caught around the middle in a tight hug. Fighting the tears, she wraps her arms around her son and feels something in her come alive that she hadn’t even realized had been missing. She pulls back and drinks him in

“Henry.” Her voice breaks slightly as she stares at her grown up son, complete with the scruff that never fails to make her face the fact that her little boy is, in fact, a man. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Impulsively, she hugs him again as though she will never let him go until she feels him lift her slightly off the ground and spin her around, complete with the impish grin on his face that reminds her so much of his birth mother.

Emma just stands by the Bug, watching with a grin on her face. She adores her son, and she knows he feels the same way about her. But she also knows that there is something a little bit extra special about the relationship between this grown man and the woman that raised him. An extra connection between the two of them that is so incredibly beautiful to see.

\------------------------------------------------

The dinner goes off without a hitch and when it is over, the Charmings and Lily take their leave. Snow and David have to go to work in the morning and Lily wants to get an early start on her drive back to Boston. Emma walks her parents out to their car, high fives her brother and hugs Snow good night.

“Are you happy, sweetheart?”

She sighs in contentment. “Incredibly happy.”

Snow returns Emma’s embrace and kisses her on the forehead. “No one deserves it more than you, Emma.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Good night, sweetheart. I love you.”

Watching the car pull away, she takes an additional minute or two outside enjoying the quiet before going back in. When she enters, Regina is hanging up her phone, a look of complete shock on her face.

“What’s going on babe?”

Regina places her phone down on the table. “That was Kathryn. Did you know that she and Fredrick are expecting a baby?”

“No! That’s amazing. And it was so sweet of her to call and tell you, too.”

“That’s not exactly why she called. She wants me to be her deputy mayor and cover for her when she goes on maternity leave.”

Emma’s eyes widen. “That’s incredible, babe! You would be perfect for that!”

“There’s more. She says she isn’t intending to run for re-election next year. She wants to stay home with the baby.”

“She thinks you should run for office, doesn’t she?” The question comes from Henry and she steps away from Emma slightly to include him in the conversation. She sees Faith hanging by the doorway, clearly listening. She seems intrigued, but not particularly bothered.

“She does, yes.”

“I doubt anyone would run against you.” Regina turns her attention to Maleficent whose tone of voice is matter of fact. “Storybrooke likes Katherine, but they miss having you as their leader. We all do.” Emma and Henry nod in agreement.

Emma places a hand on her shoulder. “What do you want to do, babe?”

“I’m not sure. I need to think about it for a while.” The idea is certainly tempting, though. “What do you think?”

“I think….”

“Yes?”

“I think I would _love_ to call you Madam Mayor again.”

She orders herself not to blush, but it is no use. She quickly turns her face away as Henry laughs openly at her and Maleficent smirks. She glares at her fiancé who just shrugs innocently.

“Sorry, babe. It’s the truth.” She is saved by Henry who suddenly lets out a huge yawn.

“Whoops,” he says sheepishly. “Sorry about that. I had to get up really early to make my flight this morning.”

“Why don’t you head to bed then, darling.” He nods and kisses both of his mothers good night. He then puts out his hand for Maleficent to shake, but she just laughs and pulls him in for a hug.

“Good night, Henry.”

“Good night, Maleficent. Good night, sis,” he adds, stretching out his hand for a fist bump. Faith returns the gesture, looking a bit shy.

When he goes up to bed, the four of them sit down at the table, as they have done so many times in the last six months. When Mal comes over for dinner, the evenings almost always end with cocoa around the table before Faith heads to bed. Without warning, Faith starts to sing.

_Thank you for being a friend_

_Travel down the road and back again_

_Your heart is true_

_You’re a pal and a confidante_

They all join in for the chorus, delighting Faith in their willingness to participate in her script. When they have gone through the song twice, Emma chuckles softly.

“I wonder what it is about that song that she loves so much.”

Regina just shrugs, but Maleficent looks thoughtful. “I don’t know,” she says. “I think it is kind of fitting, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. 4 women, only a couple of them related by blood, coming together to form a family? Can you think of a situation that fits us more?”

Regina’s mouth drops open. The shock of a centuries old dragon knowing that much about 80’s television aside, Maleficent has a point. She looks across the table at Emma who is smiling at her with so much love that her breath catches for a moment.

No, it wasn’t that long ago that she had felt so alone and afraid. And now, she is surrounded by so much love, she almost feels greedy.

Loving children. Loyal friends. A devoted fiancé.

Her family is complete at last.


End file.
